Stone Walls
by Ghostess with the Mostess
Summary: After moving from her home in Kiri, Yuna is experiencing some problems. She has to get used to this odd, crazy woman who is her grandmother, deal with going to a new school where she knows no one, keep contact with her best friends back in Kiri and deal with a slowly building relationship with one of the local rebels. All while fighting her inner shy side. Fun? Probably not.
1. Chapter 1

**Stone Walls**

_Chapter One_

You know that fidgety, nervous in your stomach you get when you're forced to go somewhere you don't know? Yeah, that's the feeling I have right now while watching my grandmother's house coming closer.

I glanced over at my brother and noted his completely vacant look. Unlike me, Kai had actually left something behind in Kiri. He'd had a girlfriend and was finally in his last year of high school. The only thing I had was one friend. We would have stayed had my grandma not have gotten sick. But mom felt guilty and decided that we needed to spend some quality time with the elderly woman.

Mom pulled into the parking lot and I finally let out a sigh, unbuckling my seatbelt. I stepped out of the car and listened to the music blasting in my ears as I looked longingly down the street.

'_When the dark of the night comes around. That's the time, that the animal comes alive. Looking for something wild.'_ –

I winced as my ear bud was tugged out of my ear. Mom stood there, staring at me with an exasperated expression. She couldn't really blame me though. She'd pulled both Kai and me away from everything we knew and wanted us to just brush it aside.

"Turn this off before we go in," she ordered before placing the ear bud on my shoulder.

I watched the older woman walk up the front steps with a chilling grace before knocking on the door. Have you ever seen a documentary of a pride of lions? How the lioness stalks her prey with ease and killing intent? Yeah, that's what my mom reminded me of. It was something that most the women of Kiri shared and it always made me shutter.

I leaned back against the car door, waiting for my older brother to get out. We'd have to stick together in this or we'd probably get chewed and spit back out by this new place. I didn't have Haku and Zabuza to watch my back anymore. Not that I needed it but it was still a depressing thought. The two older men had been my strength while growing up. Now I'd have to resort to texting and calling until next summer.

"You ready?" Kai's gruff voice called from the other side of the car.

I tugged the remaining ear bud out of my ear and gave a defeated sigh. Kai came around to my side and slung his arm over my shoulder. His face was still pretty vacant but he seemed to understand that I needed my big brother. I curled my own arm around his waist and leaned against him, stuffing my Ipod into my pocket.

"Let's just get this over with," my voice came out more like a grumble than the confident and strong voice that I wanted to use.

Damn my vocal chords and their ability to think on their own.

"Remember – don't mope in front of grandma," Kai reminded me as we walked up the steps.

"Right, because I don't have a right to complain."

"You do but mom might kill you if you make her mom feel guilty."

"That would be child abuse," I sang quietly as we entered the house.

It was odd. After living in Kiri so long I'd never needed to adjust to the sun or energy filled environments. For some reason that was all I could see in Konoha. The sun seemed to always be shining, there was a warm breeze, and there was a buzz… something light in the town. Even my grandmas' house felt suffocatingly happy with its soft yellow walls and homey-ness.

Kiri had always been kind of wet and gloomy. The fog was something common and it made it hard for sunlight to warm up the streets. In Kiri there always seemed to be an undertone of darkness and it affected the people living there – the complete opposite of Konoha.

We followed the sounds of our mothers' voice and an older woman's voice. Sunlight filtered into the hallway through a large skylight above us. It kind of made my body tingle with the warmth.

Kai pulled his arm off my shoulder and quickly turned his vacant expression into a mask of contentment. I could only shake my head as I watched him walk into the room at the end of the hall – the kitchen, I'm assuming. I stood in the shadows of the doorway, looking in on the scene before me.

My mom was sitting across from an older version of herself at a small kitchen table. Kai was standing across from me, leaning against a counter as he watched the women. Our grandmother, Tomoko Oma, was somewhere in her early seventies; short grey-white hair; tiny, shrunken body, freakishly clear gold eyes – what you'd normally think of when you think 'little old lady' only with the sharp features that came with Kiri heritage.

"Is that Yunaka I see over there?" Tomoko suddenly asked, gold eyes peering into the shadows at me.

A small shiver ran down my spine. She looked like she could just see everything going on in my head. There was so much _knowing _in her eyes – it freaked me out.

"Yuna, come greet your grandmother," mom growled.

I bit my lip, trying to suppress the need to roll my eyes at the control freak that was my mother.

Stuffing my hands into the pockets of my too big sweater I strolled over. The table was small but four chairs fit neatly under it, two of which were being used. I stood at the one side of the table while the other women sat on the other side, the sunlight at their backs.

"You're to pale," Tomoko bluntly pointed out, her gold eyes narrowed on me as she looked over my appearance.

This time I did roll my eyes and let my shoulder slump from their tense position.

"Yana."

My eyes shifted from Tomoko to my glowering mother and back. I'd seen almost every expression my mother had to offer my brother and me – she didn't faze me too much anymore. It was the amusement in Tomoko's eyes that stopped me.

Her crystalline gold eyes were dancing with laughter and the corners of her lips were curled into an amused smile. Now, most normal people wouldn't be amused by my scary-as-hell mother giving her only daughter trouble but apparently this woman wasn't normal.

"It's alright Kazuko, she's just a teenager after all," Tomoko soothed.

This lady was freaking weird. My eyes snapped over to my mother who was staring at Tomoko.

"And look! She's got the Oma eyes!" the elderly woman suddenly squealed.

I jumped, eyes widening at the sudden shift in Tomoko's personality. She was staring at me with a wide grin on her face and her hands folded neatly on the table.

Again, I'd like to point out how _weird_ this lady is.

"But you have the Takenaka hair and body type – poor girl," she continued.

Self-consciously I lifted a hand to my wavy-curly brown hair and fiddled with the tips. It been cut in a straight line around my shoulders but it was still long enough to put up in a hair elastic. But, of course, having the Takenaka hair meant that there was no such thing as a straight line. The tips of my chocolate coloured hair curled in oddest ways and normally refused to go straight. My body was another thing all together. I was short, like mom, but I had minimal curves – just enough to actually prove that I was a girl but not enough to make me a very _attractive_ girl.

"Are you done?" I grumbled, dropping my hand.

I wasn't about to revert into the old Yuuka Takenaka. I refused to be her again and let everyone stomp all over me. I'd put the self-consciousness behind me and be more confident. Even if that meant faking confidence each day.

Tomoko's smile turned into a large grin once more, "Yep! You seem exactly like what I was expecting."

I forced some kind of smirk onto my lips before turning and going back to the shelter of the doorway. There was a small buzz from inside my pocket. I pulled the mobile from the pocket of my sweater and turned on the screen.

Instantly a little envelope popped up on the screen with the name _Haku _in bold letters under it. My smirk turned into a soft smile as I opened the text.

**To: Yuu-chan**

**From: Hakuu-kun**

_**How was the trip? Hope you didn't try to kill Kai!**_

I leaned back against the doorframe and quickly texted the other teen back. I didn't even bother meeting the three pair of eyes – all identical eyes, by the way – as I stuffed my phone back into my pocket.

**To: Hakuu-kun**

**From: Yuu-chan**

_**Long - slow so just what we were expecting. And of course not! I needed my daily dose of amusement ;P**_

"Does Yuna have a boyfriend?" Tomoko bluntly asked to the other two.

Instantly my face flushed as I glared over at the elderly woman. Kai snorted rather loudly and shook his head.

"No, Yuna has never done the whole relationship scene. She was probably texting Haku or Zabuza."

"Who's that?"

"Her best friend since she was six and his older cousin. It's kind of weird actually – Haku is my age and Zabuza is a college student. I still don't get how the three of them ended up such good friends," Kai finished with a casual shrug.

"You make me sound like some whore looking for older men," I accused quietly.

Obviously not quietly enough because the next thing I knew my mom was glaring daggers at me. I swear I could _feel_ the intent to harm and maim that she was probably plotting in that twisted mind of hers.

Tomoko broke the suddenly stiff silence with a slow chuckle.

"Maybe I'll get to meet these friends of yours sometime, Yuna?"

I dropped my gaze to the hardwood floor and shook my head.

"Probably not. They're both back in Kiri."

"During the winter then, when you kids have your break."

I looked up quickly at the grey haired woman with wide eyes. Tomoko winked at me and instantly I felt some kind of weight lift off me.

Maybe living with Tomoko Oma wouldn't be as bad as I thought.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hello all you lovelies reading this :)**

**I hope you enjoyed my little chapter and are eager for more. If not, well, you can go lick a frozen pole. Or not. You could just give me some constructive criticism. Your choice really.  
**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or any of it's characters. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Stone Walls**

_Chapter Two_

For the next week things were a little difficult. With another person added into our small family there was a need to change around the bathroom routine in the morning. For the first few days there was a lot of stepping on toes and races to get to the washroom first. Well, for Kai, mom and me anyways. Tomoko just sat at the kitchen table downstairs and sipped away at her tea.

The week was finally coming to an end when two boxes and large envelopes were delivered to the Oma household. Instantly Tomoko was ecstatic. She was so happy that both her grandchildren would be going to the same high school that both her and our mother went to.

It was kind of weird thinking about, actually. With Kai and me going to Konoha Academy that would mean three generations of Oma teenagers had wondered the same halls. And who knew how many before Tomoko and our grandfather?

But I'll tell you one thing; uniforms were still in place.

I blanched at the dark blue skirt that was clenched tightly between my hands. It was one of the ones that were long enough that you could roll up if you didn't like the length. Under the skirt had been a white long sleeved button up shirt and a short sleeved one, those annoying socks that pull up to almost your knees, a black fabric vest, a tie that matched the navy blue of the skirt and a pair of shoes.

"This – This is horrifying," I hissed, shoving the skirt back into the box.

Kai looked over at me with a raised eyebrow but I purposefully looked away with a scowl.

I can handle moving to live with my elderly grandmother. I can handle only being able to text Haku and Zabuza. I can handle going to a school where I know no one. What I absolutely can't handle is the _atrocity_ in the box in front of me.

"Oh suck it up," Kai grumbled.

"You're not the one forced to wear a skirt until next summer," I grumbled right back to which he scoffed at.

"Come on! Get to the good stuff!" Tomoko urged from above us.

She'd been standing in the main entryway with us while Kai and I sat on the ground.

I sighed and grabbed the large envelope with my name on it. Without hesitation I tore through the end of the paper and tipped the contents. A handbook of some kind fell into my hand as well as a few fliers for clubs, some kind of notice from the principal, and my class schedule. I grimaced and singled out that sheet. Tomoko sat down on the stairs behind me and read over my shoulder;

"Homeroom is with Iruka Unimo," she paused for a second before laughing. "I remember when he was in school with your mother and he had the biggest crush on her. It's kind of ironic that he'll be one of your teachers now."

I caught a look from Kai who was fake swooning. I let out a snort and shook my head. Leave it to Kai to mock my new teachers.

"Blah, blah, blah. Oh! Kakashi Hatake is going to be your English teacher and Jiraya is going to be your creative writing teacher," Tomoko patted my shoulder, "Good luck with that."

I kind of just blocked her out after that. Why listen to her pick out certain teachers when I would be meeting them on Monday? The nervous flutter in my stomach came back with a rush after thinking about that.

Oh god… I'm going to be meeting so many people!

The anxiety must have shown on my face because Kai was suddenly taking the sheet from Tomoko and replaced it with his own.

"Oh! You have Anko Mitarashi for your homeroom!"

I sent the older teen a thankful smile, taking back my class schedule. I pushed it back into the envelope without a second glance and grabbed the box.

"I'm going to take this up and hang it," I muttered before sliding between Tomoko and the wall, nearly running up the stairs.

Once in my room I let out a long sigh, trying to calm my nerves. Why was I always like this?! Even at Kiri where I had grown up with all my classmates I was still a nervous wreck if I didn't know them well enough. And _this_ is why Kai calls me emotionally retarded. I get nervous around new people to the point that I can't meet anyone's eyes. Haku and Zabuza had always been there to help me out of situations. If we were out somewhere and someone came up to ask me something the two of them would answer or divert the new person's attention.

Zabuza's favourite thing to tell the guys was 'Sorry, she's not interested in guys.' The reactions it got always made me laugh later.

But now, neither of my boys would be able to help. And _that_ was why I had promised myself to force confidence onto myself. And yet, Tomoko seemed to see right through it on the day we first met. She didn't see the 'tough' girl I was trying to be but normal, quiet me.

_And you'll have to deal with all those people by yourself_, a voice in my head said.

Instantly the anxiety came back with a vengeance. I flinched and slowly sat down in the center of my room, curling my legs to my chest.

A soft buzz sounded from my bed and I frowned. Who was texting me so early?

I grabbed the phone and held it in front of my body, turning on the screen. Hakus' name popped up and I couldn't help but smile, the sick feeling in my stomach lessening a bit.

**To: Yuu-cha**

**From: Hakuu-kun**

_**Hey, Yuu, just wanted to wish you good luck for Monday! I'm sure that you'll be fine : )**_

I let out a shuttering breath and quickly saved the message. Who knows when I'd need some moral support?

**To: Hakuu-kun**

**From: Yuu-chan**

_**Thanks Haku. Kind of having a moment right now**_

I knew that Haku would be just finishing up his second last class right now even though it was still morning for me. It was a weird thought – the only friends I have are five hours ahead of me. And yet both Zabuza had taken the time to message me though the day. Actually it surprised me even more when I saw a text from Zabuza. The man was in college, working and hated to text people unless it was absolutely necessary. But it also made me feel a little warm inside.

**To: Yuu-chan**

**From: Hakuu-kun**

_**Don't worry! You'll do great. Konoha Academy won't know what hit them**_

I smiled and replied with a quick thank you and fell back on my floor. I swear that boy has some kind of Yuuka-sixth-sense going on. He always knew the perfect moments to text or call me.

I looked at the box I had dropped beside my closed door and let out an angry huff this time. I _would_ do great, if only to prove to my friends that I _could_. I didn't want to disappoint either one of them.

* * *

When Monday morning finally came around I swore. And not one of those quiet, under your breath curses. No. It was some kind of mixture of a shriek and a roar.

I leapt out of my bed and stared at the little red numbers across the room from me. 7:30 AM it happily read.

"Shit, shit, shit! I'm going to be late!"

I grabbed the uniform hanging on my closet door and rushed into the bathroom. After a very, _very_ quick shower I rushed downstairs – an elastic in my mouth as I collected my wet hair at the top of my head. Kai looked up from his bagel while mom just smirked. I dropped my backpack on the ground outside the kitchen and sighed.

"You changed my alarm clock again."

"That didn't sound like a question," Kai replied after a manly snort.

"That's cause it wasn't, you ass," I snapped before marching over to the fridge.

I yanked the door open and glared at the content inside.

Nothing of interest.

I quickly closed the door, cutting off the cool breeze drifting over my socks. I turned and quickly scavenged the cupboards, coming back to the table with a bowl of dried cereal. Mom narrowed her eyes at the rattling of my meal and stood up.

Next thing I knew a steady stream of milk was drowning Fruit Loops. Once she finished destroying my breakfast, our mom tugged at the two small hoops going through the cartilage of my right ear. I grimaced at the dull pain that came along with the tug and tried to remove her fingers. Instead, she let go and flicked the black, pain splattered cross earing dangling lower. In my other ear were the matching cross and a single silver cuff clamped around the flesh.

"You're going to stand out with these," mom stated before putting the milk away.

I raised my shoulders in a quick shrug and quickly dug into my cereal. She came around to sit beside my brother and let her narrowed eyes settle on me. I looked back at her with a blank expression.

Finally, after a few minutes of that, mom looked away with a roll of her eyes.

"Good morning!" Tomoko sang as she entered the kitchen.

It still fascinated me how she and mom were such different people. How did such a enthusiastic and warm person give birth to such a harsh and controlling child? But I guess it goes the same way with mom and I. She was the hard ass while I was anxious and shy.

"Morning," Kai and I answered in unison in tired and bored tones.

I felt the older woman's hands on my shoulders when she stopped at the table. Tomoko gave the tense muscles there a soft squeeze before moving on to the coffee maker.

I finished up my cereal quickly so that the bottom wouldn't get soggy and leapt from my chair.

"I'm going now," I called back as I went to retrieve my bag – a black, over the shoulder bag with little star studs across the front flap.

"It's still early," Kai complained to which I paused to give him a look.

"You're not coming. I wouldn't want you scaring everyone away," I joked lightly.

"Fine then – I'll see you at school," he said with a wave of his hand.

"Yep, see you there."

* * *

I got to Konoha Academy with at least a half hour left before homeroom. I had planned on just going down to the front desk and signing in and then looking for my classes before they started.

In my first freshman year at Kiri High I had Haku to help. By then he was in his junior year and knew his way around. So, in a way, even finding my classes was a new territory for me.

Konoha Academy seemed to keep the same trend as the rest of the town – warm and inviting. The halls were lit brightly and every open door had some kind of noise coming from inside. The students rushed by me, throwing quick double-takes over their shoulders when they realized that I was a fresh face. I made sure to keep my head up high and ignore the nervous swarm of bees in my stomach.

I was just about to turn the corner when something literally collided with me. I felt the air whoosh out of my lungs and I hit the ground harder than I had expected. I tried to catch my breath but with the addition of the new weight sprawled over top of me it was a bit difficult.

Said weight suddenly shifted and lifted off of me.

During the fall I had somehow closed my eyes without realizing it. I blinked them open only to find a pair of blue eyes staring right back. A slow grin suddenly spread on the teen's face, still oddly close to mine since the boy had only lifted himself onto his hands, his body still hovering over mine.

To say it was a bit of an awkward position would be an understatement.

"Um, mind getting off?" I wheezed.

The blond scurried off of me and grabbed my hand. He pulled me back onto his feet before eagerly shaking the hand that was still in his.

"You're the new girl, right? Yama or Yuuki or something."

I stared at this guy and started feeling the nervousness bubble up in my chest. I tugged my hand from his slowly, so not to offend him.

"There you are, Naruto! I don't know why you're always in such a rush," a girls' voice came from behind the blond.

I peeked over 'Naruto''s shoulder and caught sight of another girl. Only, this girl had something quite unique about her – pink hair.

Naruto turned to the girl and I heard him give a guilty sounding chuckle while scratching at the back of his head.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan. I wanted to get to homeroom before the new girl. But look!" he turned to me suddenly and yanked me in front of him. "I found her!"

I gasped, trying not to fall into the pinkette. It was kind of hard to let in the nervousness while around this guy. He seemed to be always on the move and it gave me little to no time to really think.

'Sakura' gave Naruto an irritated look before meeting my eye.

"Hi, I'm sorry about him. I'm about positive that Kushina dropped him on his head as a baby. I'm Sakura, by the way. And obviously this is Naruto," the pretty pinkette introduced with a friendly smile.

I slowly nodded in return before realizing something. I was doing a pretty crappy job at being confident Yuuka.

I straightened myself and gave Sakura a smirk, "Nice to meet you, my name's Yuna."

I held out my hand to her and grinned when she accepted the hand.

"Yuna! That was it," Naruto exclaimed.

I raised an eyebrow, stepping away from the blond so that I could see him.

"How did you know about me anyways?"

"Oh! Iruka –sensei told us about you the other day. So, I wanted to be the first one to greet you."

"Well, you definitely succeeded."

"Yes! Mission accomplished!"

Both Sakura and I stared at the boy as he did this little jump thing that kind of reminded me of a little kid. Finally Sakura shook her head and turned to me.

"You have to go down to the office and sign in right? How about me and Naruto walk you down there? We can show you were homeroom is after it," she suggested with the same smile as before.

I nodded my head and quickly adjusted my bag. We started walking off, leaving Naruto behind until he suddenly realized that we weren't there anymore.

"Hey! Wait for me!"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hello all you lovelies :3**

**So, for those of you who are now following this story, thank you sooo much! This chapter was a bugger to write because I wanted to get so much into it. So, I can't promise the same length for the next one. But, I'd love to hear/read what you guys thought about it! So go give me a review.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or any of it's characters.**

_**mikes0me:** Thank you so much for being my first reviewer! I'm so glad that you liked the first chapter and I really hope you like this one as well. Hehe, I really wanted to have a character who could keep Kai and Yuuka in place because, as you'll see later, they can get a little carried away. As for my including of Haku and Zabuza... Well, I miss then :( I loved the two of them from the beginning and I needed to have them play some part in my story._


	3. Chapter 3

**Stone Walls**

_Chapter Three_

The trip to the office was fairly uneventful. It mostly consisted of Sakura talking about the school and Naruto walking on my other side, whistling to pass the time. It was kind of a comfortable feeling between the three of us and it made me kind of weary. Who knew when something would screw it up?

So, yeah, we stopped at the office where I went in and signed in and collected a slip of paper that each of my teachers had to sign. Guess it was to prove that I wasn't skipping on day one?

"So…" I drawled after a few moments of walking in silence. "Are you two going out or something?"

It took all of five seconds for Naruto to laugh outright. Sakura barked out one sarcastic laugh before shaking her head.

"Nah, we're both dating other people," Naruto replied with an easy grin.

"Oh? Sorry, you guys just seem really close."

"Well, we've been friends since we were little, so I'd hope so," Sakura informed me.

I looked over at the pinkette at the same moment her eyes widened and an affectionate smile suddenly slipped onto her lips.

"Sasuke!"

I blinked and watched Sakura rush over to a fairly tall guy halfway down the hall. I turned to Naruto who just rolled his eyes.

"Sakura's boyfriend, Sasuke. He's also been with us since we were young," he explained.

"Oh?"

I turned back to look at the guy Sakura was hugging. He was definitely attractive but there was a cocky air about him that I didn't miss. What stood out most to me was how he had styled his hair. It looked like a duck butt…

A slow grin spread across my face before I let out a quiet snicker.

Naruto looked over at me with an expression of 'what-the-hell?' and I could only snigger more. Naruto nudged me gently and cocked his head to the side in a confused manner.

"He's got a duck butt," I whispered, trying not to offend anyone on the first day.

As soon as the words left my lips a laugh erupted from the blond and he nearly doubled over with the force of the laughter. I chuckled quietly as well, covering my mouth with my hand.

"What's so funny?" Sakura demanded when she had finally pulled Sasuke towards two duo.

Naruto looked up once, gasping for breath, before bursting into another round of laughter. Sakura promptly smacked him on the back of the head walking off.

"Nice going, idiot. What were you laughing at, anyways?"

Sasukes' voice took me by surprise at first. I had been expecting something deep to match his dark hair and eyes but he actually had a soft tenor voice.

Naruto took a deep breath and breathed out, trying to calm himself. He finally straightened up and looped his arm around my shoulders, "Oh nothing, just a new inside joke with my new best friend."

I raised my eyebrows, "Who said I needed a new best friend?"

"Oh come on, Yuna, pretty please?" Naruto pouted and I had to fight off my smile.

"Sorry, but someone's already in that position."

"Well that sucks. You're no fun!"

"So, you're the new girl," Sasuke's voice once again caught me off guard and almost staggered a little when I realized he was talking to me.

_Remember! You're confident Yuna right now!_

"And you're Sasuke," I replied smoothly, trying not the let my nerves show.

He nodded his head slightly and I could see why Sakura liked him. He was definitely attractive even with the cocky air he had around him. And _damn! _Both the boys standing with me were freaking tall! I felt like a freaking kid standing between them.

"So, Sasuke, are you in Iruka-sensei's homeroom as well?" I asked, trying to hide the way my fingers twitched slightly.

I didn't get along with awkward silences, alright? Or just uncomfortable silences in general. If I ended up stuck in either kind of silence my fingers would twitch by themselves. It was an odd little habit that Zabuza pointed out to me when we were much younger.

"Nah, my homeroom teacher is Orochimaru. Try to avoid him at all costs cause he's creepy as hell," Sasuke explained after seeing my curious expression.

"Riiight. Avoid Orochimaru."

"And Kabuto," Naruto added, still standing beside me with his arm over my shoulders.

"And Karin."

"And Ero-sensei."

"And -"

"Guys! Wanna just give me a freaking list?" I cut in, crossing my arms and frowning.

"Hehe, sorry Yuna. It's pretty easy to just make a list off the top of our heads. We've known most of the people at Konoha High for a long time," Naruto supplied.

I simply let out a long sigh and shook my head, "We'd better head off to homeroom anyways. The bell will be ringing soon."

"Ah, that's right! Iruka-sensei will kick my butt if I'm late again!" Naruto yelled as he suddenly pulled away from me and dashed off.

I stared after him, blinking.

"Well, there goes my tour guide," I muttered.

Sasuke suddenly sighed and grabbed my wrist, pulling me along behind him.

"Um, Sasuke?"

"The math hall is just around the corner from the science hall," he spoke just loud enough for me to hear him.

We had just gotten up the stairs to the second floor when the warning bell went off. Sasuke tugged on my arm a little faster, forcing me with pick up my pace to a light job. Damn that boy had long legs!

Sasuke continued down the halls under he suddenly stopped. I crashed into his back with a pained squeak. My nose had crashed into the raven haired boy's shoulder blade and I was pretty sure I'd have a red nose for a while. He let go of my wrist before continuing down the hall and turning the corner.

"Warn a girl, yeah?" I grumbled before turning to the door Sasuke had dropped me off at.

Most of the other students were already inside, chatting in their own social groups. I stepped into the class and not three seconds after the bell gave a shrill scream. I flinched at the loud sound and glanced down at my feet. There were _so many_ people. I could feel their gazes steadily turn to me as I walked across the front of the class and over to the teacher's desk.

He looked up with a smile on his face. The first thing I really noticed about Iruka Umino was the long scar across his face. It started from one cheek bone, over the bridge of his nose and onto the other cheek bone.

I quickly handed him the slip of paper that he needed to sign before I started praying.

_Please don't make me introduce myself. Please don't make me introduce myself. Please don't make me introduce myself._

"Alright, Miss. Takenaka why don't you introduce yourself to the class," Iruka said loud enough to catch the classes attention.

I honestly felt like stabbing myself in the eye. No joke.

I turned to the other students seated in the desks in front of me. I held one person's eyes for probably two seconds before dropping my gaze back to the ground.

_Come on, confidence Yuna!_

The crappy part about this? As soon as Iruka practically announced me to the entire hall, 'confident' Yuna suddenly shrunk back into her shell. I swallowed slowly, unable to lift my eyes back to the other students.

I felt my fingers twitching uncomfortably as I stood there. They were all waiting for _me _to say something while I was just mentally burying myself deeper and deeper into a pit of nerves and unease. I could literally feel _all_ their eyes on me.

Iruka cleared his throat, trying to hurry the process on.

I turned my head away from the class, more towards the windows opposite from the door, "Yunaka Takenaka," I said in a soft voice. "Just call me Yuna."

"Alright!" Iruka declared loudly, "Yuna-chan, you can go sit there beside Naruto-kun."

Well, at least _something_ was playing to my favor. Though, I wasn't too sure how he and Sakura would react after seeing the side I was trying to hide.

I looked up from under my bangs and easily picked out Naruto sitting one seat over from the window. The seat between the two was empty and I silently cheered. In front of the empty desk was Sakura and I quickly made my way over to safety.

"You alright, Yuna?" Naruto whispered, leaning over his desk slightly to get closer to me.

I gave the blond a small smile which he frowned at. But I brushed by, sinking into my new desk. I tugged my phone from the side pocket of my bag and smiled a little wider now. There were three messages waiting for me. My eyes flickered up to Iruka who was already diving into the lesson. I pulled my phone into my lap and checked each message.

**To: Yuu-chan**

**From: Hakuu-kun**

_**Hey! How's it going so far?**_

**To: Yuu**

**From: Zabuza**

_**Don't cower! Stay strong! X**_

**To: Yuna**

**From: Kai**

_**If you make it out of your first day alive, we can go feast on ice cream with grandma. Deal?**_

I grinned and pushed my phone back into my back. I'd probably have to call Zabuza after school and apologize for 'cowering', as he put it. I'd text Haku back once the lesson was finished and ice cream? Best deal there is.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hello all my lovelies :3**

**So? Chapter three, what'cha think of it? I really liked writing the Squad Seven characters and I think I did a pretty good job with Naruto and Sasuke. Well, that might just be because _I_ was the one who wrote it. So, tell me; how's my portrayal of the characters so far? Is Yuna still a pretty realistic character? **

**Oh, also; I've barely glanced at grammar and spelling. So, please don't mind any errors.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or any of it's characters.**

_**Shadow-Ninja-Captain69:** Thank you a bunch for reviewing! And I'm really happy that you liked how I've written Naruto so far. Hopefully you'll like this chapter as well :)_


	4. Chapter 4

**Konoha High Fan Fiction**

_Chapter Four_

**To: Hakuu-kun**

**From: Yuu-chan**

_**There are a bunch of crazy people here! Help!**_

I tapped the send button just before being towed off to where I was hopping was the cafeteria. The bell for lunch had literally _just_ rung and within two seconds Naruto had both his bag, mine and was dragging me away from creative writing.

Not that I minded. Jiraya was pretty much a perverted old guy who just wanted help with his porno novel. And now I understood why he was on Naruto and Sasuke's 'don't-go-near' list. Also, now I understood why Naruto had scratched out the teacher's name and put in Ero-sensei. Yeah, I wasn't looking forward to tomorrow's class to say the least.

Though, I had met a very interesting character whose name was Sai and happened to be Sasuke's cousin. Or possibly second cousin. I mean, the two _did_ look similar but their personalities? A nuclear bomb explosion apart. Though, Sai had a fantastic ability for art. He'd shown me a few of his finished sketches and I was pretty much in love with his paper.

Other than Sai, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke I really hadn't spoken to anyone else. Sasuke had been in my history class during second period along with Sakura so I was basically forced to listen to them flirting all class. Actually, correction – I listened to _Sakura_ flirt all class. Sasuke had looked like he was actually trying to pay attention to Tsunade.

"Hey, do you have lunch money?" Naruto suddenly asked just before we walked into, what I assumed was, the cafeteria.

I stared down the door, realizing that on the other side was just a crap ton of students. I felt the bees nest in my stomach start up again and cringed.

"We're eating in there?" I asked softly.

Naruto looked down at me before looking back at the door.

"Of right! You don't like lots of people looking at you! Here, take my bag out to the front yard and you'll see Sasuke and Sakura out there. Just go and join the group their in."

Naruto shoved his orange bag into my hands along with my own shoulder bag and then dived into the cafeteria. I called a fait good luck after him and quickly turned on my heel.

Getting outside was the easiest part of her day so far. And finding Sakura and Sasuke was also pretty easy. To put it simply – their hair stuck out. I let out a soft sigh of relief and headed in their direction. But then I realized something else. The two were sitting with another girl and Sai.

My steps faltered for a second before I gave my head a firm shake. It was just one girl. The others she was more comfortable with than she could imagine being after just a few hours. But, then again, they each had very unique personalities. It kind of reminded me of something Kai often said.

'_You make friends with the strangest people.'_

He had been referring to Haku and Zabuza at the time but I thought that it might fit here as well. Naruto, from what I knew already, was a very high-strung, outgoing and caring guy. And Sasuke was almost his opposite. The dark haired teen was much quieter, more reserved with his thoughts but very passionate about what he _did_ talk about. Then there was Sakura who was the balance between the two boys. She was kind, level headed and enthusiastic about her studying.

During our creative writing class Naruto had told me a bit more about his two friends. Some things were simple, like their last names and who was the oldest of the three. It was amusing when Naruto started telling her about little things about their pasts together. Sai would jump in at random times to correct Naruto on something or ask a question. This led me to learning something interesting about Sai – he just loved to tease Naruto.

When I arrived at the little group Sakura smiled brightly.

"Yuna! Naruto convinced you to join us for lunch, hm?"

"Sai helped him with that," I replied, giving the pale boy a slight smile.

"You're different now," Sasuke pointed out rather bluntly.

I looked down at him, meeting charcoal eyes with some wariness. I knew that I wasn't trying to be as 'cool' as I had been in the morning but after the incident in homeroom it was kind of hard to keep up appearances.

"Well, as it turns out, Yuna is shy," Sakura teased from her place beside the Uchiha.

My wary look slumped into a scowl, directed only at the pinkette. She laughed but continued to smile at me.

"Don't worry about it Yuna. You kind of reminded me of Hinata here. She's the same way."

I looked at the girl sitting across from Sasuke. Their little group was kind of a circle and I realized just how close these guys were. Sasuke and Sakura were sitting closely together with Hinata across from Sasuke. Sai was bridging the gap between the two, like they were sitting at a table and he had an end seat. There was a space beside Hinata, which I assumed was for Naruto and a space across from Sai.

"Sit down already," Sasuke sighed before popping a cherry tomato into his mouth.

I stuck my tongue out at the Uchiha boy before sitting down in the spot across from Sai. I gave the boy a hesitant wave and he smiled his own greeting.

"So, Yuna, this is Hinata Hyūga. She's Naruto's girlfriend," Sakura introduced.

_Hm, Hyūga sounds familiar,_ I pondered as I looked over at the girl.

The girl was actually fairly tall, or at least she looked like she could be. I couldn't quite tell with her sitting neatly on her legs. She had wide _pale_ eyes that looked equally as familiar as her last name sounded. She had long, straight black hair that gleamed in the sunlight behind her.

I gave the girl a curious look and then realized she was fidgeting under my observations. She really was exactly like me from before. Even if I'd allowed myself to tone down the 'cool' façade I wouldn't be as shy around these people. Sakura and Sai were nice enough, Sasuke was a bit cold but he had helped me before. And Naruto – jeez, no one could feel nervous around that guy!

I finally sent the shy girl a smile, pushing the familiarity to the back of my head for later.

"It's nice to meet you, Hinata."

"Y-You as well, Y-Yuna," I couldn't help but smile wider at her stammering.

Yes, she was _exactly_ like me.

I put Naruto's bag beside me along with my own and tried to relax. Sakura and Hinata started a conversation while the boys were either just listening or relaxing in the afternoon sun. Of course, that quiet didn't last long.

Naruto ran over, juggling two sandwich bags, two apples and a pair of juice boxes. He plopped down beside Hinata with a wide smile on his face.

"I'm pretty sure I saw your brother in the cafeteria. He was sitting with Temari and her brother Kankurō," he stated before handing me half of his food.

I watched him lean over and give the Hyūga girl a soft peck on the cheek and laughed softly when her entire face flushed brightly. Naruto grinned before turning back to me.

"They're Gaara's siblings. Temari is a senior and Kankurō's a junior. They pretty cool, I guess. But Temari can be scary as hell sometimes," the blond gave a shudder.

I stared at him for a long time before finally shaking my head, "Naruto, I don't know who any of those people are."

"Oh!"

"Idiot."

"What'd you say, jerk?!"

"I called you an idiot."

"N-Naruto, calm down please! You're causing a s-scene."

"Both of you knock it off!"

I smiled at the display in front of me. Between Sai and I, Naruto and Sasuke were right in each other's faces, glaring at each other. Hinata was quietly trying to calm her boyfriend down while Sakura looked about ready to knock the two boys' heads together.

I had a feeling that things would be much, much more hectic than they had been in Kiri. And right now, I didn't know if that was going to be a good thing or a bad thing.

I tugged my phone back out from my bag and checked for a reply from Haku. And right where it always was a small envelope sat waiting.

**To: Yuu-chan**

**From: Hakuu-kun**

_**Crazy? More crazy than the kids here?**_

My shoulders slumped a little but my smile grew. Haku was right, as always. Kiri was filled with student made rules and codes and if you broke any of those you'd be screwed. The only time the students really united for one thing was during the taijutsu tournaments. Even though they were later during the day each and every student would show up at the stadium to cheer on the taijutsu team. Any other time, you'd be lucky to see even one word spoken in a classroom or different groups mingling with others. It just wasn't done.

**To: Hakuu-kun**

**From: Yuu-chan**

_**Alright, not THAT crazy but pretty darn close.**_

I tucked the phone away again found that Sakura actually had hit the two boys' heads together. Naruto was whining quietly, careful not to annoy the pinkette any farther while Sasuke gently rubbed his forehead.

I raised my eyebrows and looked across at Sai, "Are they always like this?"

"Every day," he sighed and took another bite of his sandwich.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hello all my lovelies :3**

**Chapter four already? Yes! This chapter flowed out really well I think and guess what?! Gaara is going to be in the next chapter. I hope. There is a 60/40 percent chance of him being in this chapter, one way or another. And I actually have both ways figured out. So, give me some reviews people! **

**I KNOW YOU'RE OUT THERE!**

**Oh, also; I've barely glanced at grammar and spelling. So, please don't mind any errors.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or any of it's characters.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Stone Walls**

_Chapter Five_

When the final bell rang I slumped back in my chair. Asuma gave me a weird look from the front of the class but I really didn't care by that point. I was actually tired just from my time in school. When was the last time _that _happened?

I slowly got up, stashing some homework into my bag and slipping it over my shoulders. I gave a small wave to Asuma before leaving the geography classroom. I pulled my IPod from my bag and pushed the ear buds into my ears.

It was surprising how much had happened just on this one day. I had been expecting to just go to classes and leave without any other thoughts. But instead I had been knocked to the ground, was almost late to my homeroom, met five very _interesting_ people and found out about a very, very creepy science teacher all while texting Haku about what was going on. He was pretty eager to hear more about everything when I got home and hopefully Zabuza would be home as well so I could talk to both my boys.

The streets were fairly crowded as I made my way home. It wasn't too long of a walk, maybe fifteen minutes, twenty tops and that was if you were walking slowly. Kai had apparently gone on ahead of me but I didn't mind, the 'quiet' gave me some time to think.

The classes were alright when I didn't have Naruto or Sasuke to bug me. Sai, Hinata and Sakura were all pretty diligent about their school work and it was a bit of a relief if I had a class with just one of them. Though, there were a few afternoon classes that I was completely by myself, though on an up note, none of the other teachers had forced me to introduce myself.

There was one class though that stuck out for me; music. It was a large collage of groups split up into instrumental, guitar and vocal. My group, the vocals, were taught by a woman named Kurenai. We were right across the hall from the guitar class since we were the quieter of the three music categories. The students that were in the vocal group with me had been pretty welcoming and hadn't forced me into anything I wasn't ready for such as solos.

I stepped into the Oma house, kicking my shoes off at the door and placing them neatly on the shoe rack.

"I'm home!" I called out before heading into the kitchen.

A small note was stuck to the fridge with a magnet. I walked over, dumping my bag in one of the kitchen chairs, to see it better.

_Kai, Yuna,_

_I'm going out with Grandma for a while. We should be back before dinner. So don't kill each other or reck the house._

_- Mom_

I rolled my eyes and opened the fridge. And, as usual, nothing really interested me. A long groan escaped my throat as I closed the fridge and turned on the kettle. Tea was always good after school. Though, I never had this much excitement in one day of school.

I finished making my tea and settled down at the kitchen table with the mug pressed between my hands. I heard footsteps rushing down the stairs right before Kai slid into the kitchen. He grinned when his gold eyes landed on me and I knew something was coming. Something unpleasant and I'd probably want to kill him afterwards.

"I have someone I want you to meet."

See? I knew it.

"No."

"What? What do you mean no?"

"Those are two letters with a pretty obvious definition, Kai. No."

"But –"

"I just spend half the day meeting people and trying not to curl up into a tiny ball in the corner of a deserted classroom. I'm _not_ meeting anymore people."

"Don't be such a spoil sport. You'll like this one!"

"Kai, when was the last time I liked anyone that you've introduced me to?"

"Didn't you like that one kid? Shinji?"

"He put gum in my hair in the third grade and chewed it while it was _in_ my hair."

"Oh that's right; you came home crying that day."

I let out a long sigh before pushing my chair back and getting up. I grabbed my bag and pulled it over my shoulder, grabbed my mug and made my way upstairs. I found hear Kai following behind me but he wasn't bugging anymore so I just assumed that he was going back to his room to entertain his guests.

"Please, Yuu? He's your age and really only hangs out with his siblings. I think you'd get along really well with him."

As soon as he used my childhood nickname I paused. In a house like ours childish names like Yuu or KK were something drilled out of us as soon as it started. We'd use the names as secret passwords or to comfort one another when things got bad. The only other people I'd ever let use that little nickname was Haku and Zabuza.

A groan tore out of me as I tossed my head back. Why was it so damn hard to ignore him sometimes?!

Once at the top of the stairs I turned around and glared at Kai, "I'll meet him this once."

"You're the best, Yuna," he returned with a grin.

Unlike me, school had the opposite effect on Kai. Whereas to much social interaction wore me down it pretty much just boosted my brother up. He thrived off having friends and being around people. Sure, I liked talking to others but it was a lot harder for me open up to people than it was for him. Hell, it was hard for me to just _talk_ to new people. Though, apparently Naruto was the odd one out in that department.

I let out a tired sigh, "Just let me put my bag in my room."

"Sure, just come to my room when you're done and you can hang out with him there."

One thing that I _did_ love my brother for was his understanding. He knew that I wasn't comfortable by myself around new people. The few times I'd allowed him to introduce me to someone it was in his presence so that I didn't turn into a stuttering blob of goo.

I continued down the hall, passing Kai's room on the way. I could hear a few voices and some greetings when my brother re-entered the room. I smiled slightly and shook my head.

It really amazed me sometimes how easily Kai could connect to people. We were complete opposites but we worked well together most of the time.

I walked into my room, closing the door softly behind me and set my mug down on my desk. With a tired huff I dropped my bag onto the floor and flopping down onto my bed. I could still hear the chatter going on in the other room and let out a long groan. If I didn't get a move on Kai would come drag me into his room.

I pushed myself off the bed and quickly changed out of my uniform. Ah, skinny jeans and tank tops were so much comfier than skirts and dress tops. Without anything else to do I left the room and went to join the others with my mug of tea.

I leaned slightly against the door frame inside Kai's room and watched the interactions of the older students. There was another girl, probably about the same age as Kai, a dark haired boy and another guy around my own age with dark red hair. Obviously, he was the one Kai wanted to introduce me to.

Kai was looking over at the dark haired guy when he caught sight of me, "Oh, hey! Guys, this is my little sister, Yuna."

The three strangers suddenly looked over at me and I suddenly wished that I'd worn my sweater. My eyes dropped down to my bare feet when the older girl suddenly grinned. She looked nice enough from the glance I'd given her.

She had darker sandy coloured hair that was gathered into four ponytails. She had dark, dark green eyes that matched nicely with her tanned skin.

The older boy had the same tanned skin but he was much taller than the girl. He had wild dark hair that stuck out in most spots. And he had dark eyes that almost looked back.

The last boy, the one with the deep red hair was the shortest of the group in front of me, though, still taller than me. He was much paler than the other two and there were dark rings around his eyes. Speaking of eyes – he had very unique green eyes. Almost sea foam green and the colour stood out with the dark rings around his eyes.

Alright, he may or may not have been the most attractive guy I'd ever seen. Not that it mattered or anything.

"Come on in, Yuna," Kai urged lightly with a wave of his hand.

Without raising my eyes I went over to the free desk chair and sat down. I could feel the others eyes on me but I didn't really feel comfortable meeting any of their gazes. Now, I wasn't just regretting not wearing my sweater but also for not letting my hair out of the elastic. I could have easily hid behind a curtain of hair.

"So, Yuna, this is Temari, Kankurō and Gaara Subaku. They're also transfer students but they've been here for a while longer than we have. They actually used to live in Suna! Isn't that cool?"

I nodded my head slowly and glanced down at my fingers. They were lightly twitching in my lap, a sure sign of the nervousness I was feeling.

_Come on! Confident Yuna!_

I sucked in a deep breath and nodded inwardly to myself. There wasn't any need to curl up in my shell. Especially not in my own home! These people weren't going to bother me like in Kiri, I had to remember that. Plus the fact that Kai seemed to like them. That was another good reason to crack the shell a bit.

I raised my head and gave the people across from me a slight smile, "It's nice to meet you."

"Temari's in my homeroom and a few other classes and Kankurō is a junior. Gaara over there is actually in your grade," I could hear the amusement in Kai's voice.

I peeked over at the red head and thought back, "Oh! You're in my English class."

He gave a slow nod before looking away. I shot a look over at Kai and he just shrugged.

"It's nice to meet you, Yuna," Temari greeted with a friendly smile.

I was a bit surprised that the girl would so easily be nice to me but I wasn't going to complain.

My smile grew a little more, "You too."

"Hey! You're actually pretty cute when you smile!" Kankurō suddenly threw in.

My eyes widened slightly at the random compliment and I swear I could feel Kai's irritation from where he was sitting at the head of his bed.

"Kankurō, how about we not flirt with my younger sister," he drawled but I could hear the warning in his voice.

A grin spread on the brunet's lips, "Hey, she's _your_ younger sibling but for me, she's a hot chick who's only a year younger."

"Sorry Kankurō, not interested," I broke in easily before Kai could start getting a bit more defensive.

"I'm kind of missing Zabuza now," Kai grumbled.

"You can't always rely on the older guys to protect your little sister, Kai," I sang back.

And this was why I always stayed with Kai around new people. It was easier to relax with him around. I started being more like myself quicker than when not around him. And yet, once again, Naruto was an exception to this.

"So, you mentioned actually meeting people today. Who'd you meet?" Kai asked suddenly and I grinned at his terrible attempt at changing topics.

"Well, I met this guy named Naruto Uzumaki and his group of friends as well as my teachers."

"Hm, I didn't see you in the cafeteria."

"That's cause Naruto and Sakura figured out pretty fast about my, erm," I glanced at the other in the room before returning my eyes to Kai, "problem. Naruto bought me a lunch and we all ate outside."

"Problem?" Temari echoed.

Kai nodded, "Yuna has a problem with being around new people. She hates being stared at, being the center of attention, pretty much anything that involves social interaction. Back in Kiri she had the same two friends since she was like, five. It's kind of a wonder that you actually spoke to anyone today."

"Yeah well Naruto is… he's a special case."

A soft sound that sounded an awful lot like a chuckle sounded from the red head across at the end of the bed. I sent a smile over to Gaara, trying to include him a bit.

"You know Naruto, Gaara?"

The boy looked over at me and nodded his head, a bit more hesitantly than last time.

"We used to hang out a bit during the summer when I'd visit our uncle."

A sudden realization hit me while listening to the red head's words. I turned to Kai with bright eyes filled with question.

"Hyūga, why is that such a familiar name?"

Kai frowned and I could tell he was thinking back, probably feeling the same familiarity to the name as I did.

"Hyūga is the last name of two of the students at Konoha High," Kankurō filled in instead. "Hinata Hyūga and her older cousin, Neji Hyūga."

"I _knew_ that name sounded familiar!" I exclaimed.

Kai nodded in agreement while the other three glance back and forth with confusion.

"Neji Hyūga was the kid we'd always play with when we used to come and visit grandma. Him and Yuna really hit it off and I'm pretty sure she had a crush on him back then."

I rolled my eyes and took my first actual sip of tea since coming upstairs. The sweet chocolate taste of chocolate chai warmed me, heating up my insides pleasantly.

"I don't have a crush on him anymore. I've moved on from childish things like that."

The two older Subaku siblings looked over at me with disbelief.

"How old are you?" Kankurō asked.

"I'm sixteen, why?"

"Because you're a sixteen year old girl! You should be crushing on guys left and right!"

Kai let out an amused sound, "And this is why I _am_ glad to have her as a sister."

I ignored my brother and replied to Kankurō and probably whatever thoughts were running through Temari's head.

"I don't see the point in liking someone. I don't see the point of getting that attached to someone that you're probably not going to be with or even talk to three years down the line.

"Well, aren't you just a bundle of joy," Kankurō replied dryly.

I turned my head back to him and stuck my tongue out at him. Kai rolled his eyes before getting back to the matter at hand.

"Why'd you ask anyways?"

"Oh, cause what Gaara said about Naruto reminded me of that. Also, I met Hinata today and the last name has been bugging me," I answered with a little shrug.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hello all my lovelies :3**

**Sooooo? I finally brought in the Subaku family! Also, yes, I realize I just kind of ended the chapter very oddly. I was going to write more but two thousand and fifty some odd words was pushing it. So, I ended the chapter and have continued on in chapter six. **

**But yeah, I told you there would be Gaara in this chapter~!**

**Oh, also; I've barely glanced at grammar and spelling. So, please don't mind any errors.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or any of it's characters.**

_**TheGirlWithNoIQ:** Thank you for the review! And thank you so much for your comment on Yuna. I actually have no idea when I'm actually being funny, it just comes out however it does. most of the time I'm worried about if I'm adding the right amount of humour into my stories. And as for portrayal of characters? Another big thing for me. I'm constantly worrying while writing that I might get the canon characters wrong. Or even my own characters! _

___**Shadow-Ninja-Captain69:** Heey! Thanks for the second review! That's awesome! Hehe, I know what you mean about the boys sounding like people you know. Actually, I was eating dinner while writing one night and I was re-reading what I had written earlier at the same time my brothers were fighting in the other room. And, honestly, the two pairs sounded EXACTLY alike. I started laughing and the older of my two brothers wanted to know what was so funny, so I showed him. He actually laughed and agreed that they all sounded exactly the same. _


	6. Chapter 6

**Stone Walls**

_Chapter Six_

For the next little while things were basically the same except the questions weren't being shot at me. I sat in the computer chair just listening with an amused smile while the older students joked and talked. It was kind of nice, in a weird way. I mean, it's not often that I hung out with Kai and his friends but these guys weren't so bad.

Mom and Tomoko came back around four and my grandmother insisted that the Subaku siblings stayed over for dinner. I left the group to help Tomoko set the table while mom finished with dinner. The gold eyed woman kept glancing across at me and it was kind of weirding me out.

She did it again before I finally huffed and stood up straight, crossing my arms, "Alright, what's up?"

She gave me her best innocent face, which, by the way, is freakishly innocent. She could probably go on a murder spree and look like she didn't do anything.

"I want to know about your first day!" she suddenly gushed.

I rolled my eyes before laying down the last of the silverware. Somehow it didn't surprise me that it was Tomoko asking instead of my mom. But the one thing I hated doing most was repeating myself and I already had to re-tell the story of my first day to Haku and Zabuza later tonight.

"It was fine," I replied with a shrug.

"Fine?" Tomoko echoed, tilting her head. "Just fine?"

I shrugged again, "Yeah, just fine."

"Did you like your teachers?"

"Most of them. Jiraya-sensei was a little… odd."

Tomoko laughed brightly and shook her head, "I remember when he was just a kid, and he was always making fun of your grandfather."

"You knew him back then?"

"Of course! Your grandpa was a teacher at Konoha High and Jiraya was one of his favourite students. Actually, the current principal, your grandfather and I all went to that school together. Hiruzen and your grandpa were best friends back then."

I tilted my head, trying to imagine a younger version of my grandfather with a young Hiruzen. It was actually pretty hard to do. But the thought that our family still had ties like that was pretty cool.

"So, you much know Asuma-sensei then too?"

"Yep! I was his godmother in fact."

"Wow, our family is pretty close to the Sarutobi Clan then," I leaned against one of the chairs and looked over at Tomoko.

The white haired woman nodded with a happy smile on her face, "Yes, our Clans have always been close. They go as far back as the shinobi days."

Now _that_ caught my attention.

"Really? The Oma Clan has been around for that long?"

Now this brought a large grin to the older woman's face. She nodded erratically and sat down in her normal chair. I sat down quickly as well, leaning in so that I'd be able to hear even better.

"Konoha used to be a great Shinobi village, the protection for the Land of Fire. The village was made up of many Clans and civilians but there were also very large and powerful Clans. Those Clans were the Hyūga Clan, Uchiha Clan, Aburame Clan, Inuzuka Clan and the Oma Clan. And just like those other Clans we also had a specialty."

She was about to go farther but mom walked in an irritated expression on her face. "Telling stories again, mom?"

"Nothing that isn't true," Tomoko replied easily.

"I'd rather you not tell stories to my kids. They don't need such childish theories in their minds."

_Ah yes, my mother everyone_, I thought sarcastically to myself.

"Yuna, go get your brother and his friends," mom commanded.

Do I look like some kind of pet to you?!

I let out a brief huff before pushing my chair back and leaving the room. I marched my way up the stairs and stopping in Kai's room where everyone was still in the position I left them in.

"Kai, mom's in one of her 'break-all-the-dreams' mode and dinner's done," I told him.

The older Takenaka muttered, "Fan-freaking-tastic."

I nodded in agreement before waving my hand to Kai's friends, "Come on. The table's already set and if we make mom wait we'll have to listen to her rant about it."

"Umm," Temari looked fairly uncertain but I just shrugged.

"Just come on."

After introductions were made dinner went off without much of a hitch. Mom did complain a bit about us being slow and Tomoko did gush a bit about the Subaku siblings and how she was finally meeting them. Apparently Tomoko knew all the news in Konoha.

Gaara had been seated beside me after Tomoko and Kai insisted on it. Thankfully the dining room table was big enough for all of us compared to the table in the kitchen where we normally ate. Tomoko and mom sat at the ends of the table while the kids squished into the sides. Well, Kankurō, Gaara and I were squished anyways.

"So, you kids have been here for a while now, how do you like Konoha?" Tomoko asked, trying to start up some dinner chatting.

"It's definitely different from Suna, that's for sure," Kankurō replied with a grin.

"I know what you mean. It so much hotter here compared to Kiri and so much more _green_," Kai replied with a chuckle.

"What do you mean hot? It's cool here compared to Suna," Temari raised an eyebrow at my brother and I could help but chuckle.

"Kiri is pretty much wet and cold all year round so, so us, it's pretty warm here," I explained to the other girl.

Immediately I heard a fork or something clang loudly onto someone's plate. I looked at each person around the table before realizing that they were all staring at our mom who, in turn, was staring at me.

"Umm…" Oh don't I sound intelligent?

"Since when do you talk to other people?" she suddenly demanded.

Of course, now that she'd mentioned it, I was going to start feeling nervous about it. Leave it to mom to ruin a good thing.

"Yuna's been doing pretty good with talking to people," Kai said slowly, trying to direct the Kiri woman's attention away from me.

I looked down, away from the piercing eyes of my mother and started picking at my food. Yay for awkward silences!

"Is that so," it wasn't really a question but I didn't lift my head either because, well, my mom was scary as hell.

Hm, maybe that was a contributing factor to my unease around new people.

"She said that she was actually talking to some kids at school," Kai insisted, hearing the doubt in our mothers' voice.

Mom let out a soft scoff and by the sounds of it she returned to eating her dinner.

The rest of the meal was mostly eaten in silence. I kept my head down while Temari and Kai quietly spoke to each other across the table.

I was just finishing my chicken when something lightly nudged my foot. I lifted my eyes, looking over to Gaara and found the corner of his mouth lifting very slightly. I returned with my own half smile before turning back to my meal.

Once we finished Kai practically dragged me back up to his room. Within minutes I could myself squished between Kankurō and Temari. Gaara stood at the door and Kai pulled the computer chair in front of me, dropping rather

"Yuna, you can't let her get to you like this," Kai immediately started, no pauses or hesitation.

I gave a weak smile in reply but couldn't quite think of the words to ease him.

Gold eyes pierced through me. I lifted my eyes from my lap and met his eyes. Kai leaned forward and took both my hands and cupped his around them.

"Hey, we've been through worse, haven't we? Mom's words can't get to you."

He was right, but her words did hurt. She was my mom and her opinion mattered to some degree. Her disbelief was hurtful and it made me wonder _why_ I let it affect me.

I heaved out a long sigh and shook my head, "Can we just forget about it?"

"As long as you don't suddenly become a hermit again."

I have a meek chuckle and nodded my head. As Kai released me hands, satisfied with my answer, I felt Temari wrap an arm around me.

"We're here for you too. If you ignore the fact that we just met and all, you can always come hang out to get away for a bit."

Kankurō nodded in agreement, knocking his knee against mine. I'm just assuming that that was a sign of his affection.

I turned to the other girl and smiled a bit more now, "Thanks," I turned to Kankurō, "you too."

The Subaku siblings left a little while after. Just before they left Gaara nodded once to me, his freakishly gorgeous eyes staring intently into mine. Me, being who I am, ended up awkwardly looking away until they left.

"Well, today's definitely been different," I huffed before falling onto my bed.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hello all my lovelies :3**

**Yay! More Sand siblings! I definitely think we're going to have more of all three later on in the story but for now we're just going to integrate Gaara into this. Oh! And I was thinking about what I'm going to be doing with this story and I have a few ideas. A little spoiler; there might be a camping trip, a school trip some Haku and Zabuza and maybe some beach time! Oh! And I got some inspiration for a sequel once this is over. So, let's keep our fingers crossed!**

**Oh, also; I've barely glanced at grammar and spelling. So, please don't mind any errors.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or any of it's characters.**

_**TheGirlWithNoIQ:** __Haha! I'm glad your 'fangirl-ity' was moved by Gaara's chuckling. And I promise there will be more of him soon. Along with more Naruto and the gang. I dunno, I find them a lot easier to write than Kankuro and Temari. And like I said in my little author's note, there is definitely going to be some interesting events once Yuna gets more comfortable with the group. I have to say, lovely reviewer, that I loved reading this review. I guess, in a way, this chapter is out because of you :)_


	7. Chapter 7

**Stone Walls**

_Chapter Seven_

So, did I mention that both the Subaku siblings and Naruto both lived on my street? Yeah, day two of school was turning into a hectic event already.

It started out with an extremely annoying alarm coming from the cell across the room. Yeah, I had an extremely hard time getting up in the morning so this was the answer; loud and annoying upbeat music from old musicals.

"_Good morning, good morning! We taaaalked the whole night through!"_

I groaned and pulled my pillow over my head.

"Yunaka Shizu Takenaka, if you don't turn that damn song off now I'm going to come in there and beat you with a spoon!"

Alright, that helped kick start my day. There was nothing like being threatened with a spoon by your older brother.

I let out another long groan before pulling myself out of bed. After doing a zombie walk over to my desk to turn of the blaring tune and slumped tiredly into my desk chair.

Yeah, no one in this house was a morning person. Actually, scratch that. Tomoko was crazy happy all the time.

I grabbed my uniform and headed for the shower across the hall. After that the morning was much more acceptable.

I entered the kitchen a bit earlier than the day before so Kai wasn't down just yet. I could hear mom bustling about somewhere in the house and cringed. Tomoko was probably reading in her room.

I sat down at the table with some toasted Pop Tarts, happily munching on the sugary pastry.

Instead of putting my hair up today I had braided the wavy-curly mass over my shoulder and I had switched out my cross earrings for adorable owl earrings. The two hoops in my right ear and the cuff on the left were left alone.

I was brushing the crumbs off my fingers when there was a knock on the door. My eyebrows rose and I stared curiously at the doorway while listening to Kai almost trip down the stairs.

"Um, who're you?" I could hear him well enough.

"Has Yuna left already?" The sunny voice of Naruto Uzumaki definitely brought on a spike of curiosity.

I pushed myself up and made my way out of the kitchen and into the hall. Kai was standing a little off from the door while the blond in question stood on our porch with a sheepish expression. A smile claimed my lips as I went up to the door, nudging Kai with my elbow.

"Hey, Naruto, what's up?"

"Ohh, so _this_ is the famous Naruto," Oh Kai, you're such a genius.

"Hehe, nice to meet you Kai," Naruto grinned, scratching the back of his neck.

I knew that move. He was feeling awkward with both of us staring at him.

"Dude, how do you know where I live?" I suddenly asked, peering up at the tall blond.

That, at least, lowered the awkward tension between the three of us, "I live literally right across the street. It's kind of hard to miss you."

Ah, that would explain in.

"So, you're here foooor?"

"Wanna walk to school together?"

I grinned and nodded my head, "Give me a sec."

Naruto nodded and I quickly sped off to my bedroom. My bag was beside my door, thankfully pre-packed. I pulled the strap over my head and returned to the door in record time.

"Jeez, a little eager there, Yuna?"

"Shush, Kai. School is important," I stuck my tongue out at the older Takenaka child before stuffing my feet into my shoes.

God I had these shoes. Who would voluntarily wear these chucky black things anymore?

I stepped out onto the porch and gave Kai a quick wave, "Shall we be off then?" I ask.

"Actually, we're going to go pick up Hinata and Neji first," he replied before linking his fingers behind his head.

I stared after the blond teen with dread building up already. I mean, _really?_ I just remembered the guy and now I'd be facing my apparent childhood crush. Blah, life sucks sometimes.

* * *

Neji Hyūga was expecting a regular morning. Eat breakfast with his two cousins, get ready for school, walk with Naruto and Hinata to said school and continue with his classes. But there was a slight twist to today's morning.

He opened the front door after the familiar enthusiast knock sounded on the wood. Instead of just a grinning idiot on the other side Neji also found a short dark haired girl standing awkwardly behind the blond.

Neji blinked, glancing back and forth between the blond and the oddly familiar new face. A feeling of faint affection tugged at him but he pushed it back.

Turning his pale eyes back to the blond idiot Neji greeted his cousin's boyfriend, "Naruto."

"Jeez Neji, you make it seem like talking to me is a task," Naruto pouted.

"That's because it is," he retorted without a pause.

A soft laugh came from the brunette behind Naruto, "You pretty much set yourself up for that."

"Yuna! You're mean!" he whined rather loudly.

The name caught Neji's attention and he instantly thought back to a small hand that used to grip his as he showed a new friend his home. It was most definitely an odd thought to have.

The girl shrugged, "You should have seen it coming."

"Hush, Yuna. I'm not talking to you now," Naruto joked.

"Probably a good thing. I hear stupidity is contagious," Neji added dryly.

"Hey!" The blond's loud objection nearly drowned out the girl's soft chuckling.

Neji looked over at the other teen only to meet a pair of piercing golden eyes. They were staring at him almost hopefully. Neji felt that affection tugging at him again and frowned.

"I'm sorry, my name is Neji Hyūga, and who might you be?"

The girl simply smiled before replying, "I know who you are, Neji. My name's Yuna Takenaka."

The last name hit him harder than he expected. He definitely remembered the little girl who would stay with him when her mother and father would fight. His own father loved having his little friend, nearly forcing the golden eyed child to stay for dinner and sometimes her older brother as well.

Her smile got a little bigger when the realization struck him.

"I told you I'd be back, didn't I?" she said once Naruto had quieted down.

Said blond looked back and forth between the two brunettes with a frown on his face and his arms crossed over his chest.

"You two know each other?"

"Neji and me were really good friends when I was little," Yuna explained before nudging the boy. "Didn't we come here for Hinata as well?" she reminded lightly.

"Of course! We're going to be late if we don't leave now!"

* * *

So, to say that the rest of the walk to school was awkward would be an understatement. By the time we stepped through Konoha High's gates I was thanking the Heavens that Neji was a year older.

As soon as he could the older Hyūga broke off from our little group and practically dived into the crowd of students. Damn that boy could move quickly!

I let go of the breath I had been holding and felt my shoulders slump only to tense again when Naruto suddenly cleared his throat from beside me.

"So, you and Neji, huh?"

I could already imagine the wide grin that was probably stretched out across the blond's face. I scoffed softly and shook my head at his childishness.

I turned to face Hinata and Naruto, "Neji and me were pretty good friends when we were younger but it's been so many years now. Whatever our friendship was back then doesn't mean anything now."

_You're completely lying through your teeth. You were really nervous about meeting him again._

I pushed that thought back and continued forward towards the school. I could hear Naruto mutter something about my words being harsh but I shrugged it off. Sure, I still felt some kind of friendship towards Neji but it wasn't like I was going to react on it. Or, at least no more than I already had.

I dropped by my locker before going to homeroom. As it turned out that we actually had a spar period on Tuesdays and Thursdays which, by the way, was extremely nice. Except for the major shift in my schedule on those days; instead of music in the afternoons I'd be taking a gym class along with the other music kids.

My only response to this was to let my head drop down, hard, onto my desk. And of course the sound caught the attention of the few kids I knew in the class.

Naruto leaned over and pocked my side. A shrill sounding squeak left my lips and the blond burst into laughter. I scowled at him before purposefully turning my head to the window. I heard Sakura shuffling around in front of me and let out a tired sigh.

"Yuna, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you _did_ see Neji today," Naruto answered for her.

"And how's that supposed to affect me?" I shot back with a frown.

Sakura perked up a bit, "Oh? You know Neji Hyūga?"

"Knew. I _knew_ Neji Hyūga. But that was back when I was nine. I used to come visit my grandma and grandpa during the holidays."

"So, that's why you're upset?" Sakura inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"No," I moaned, dragging out the vowel. "I'm 'upset' because I have gym instead of music today."

The two stared at me for a long moment, the silence wrapping around us like a freaking wrapper. And then, all of a sudden, the two burst into laughter.

"You're honestly upset because you have to go to gym?" Sakura gasped.

"You two are mean," I sighed before turning back to the window.

It took a bit but the other two eventually calmed down enough to actually talk like normal people. I'll tell you now; it's really freaking hard to understand words around giggles and gasps.

"Yuna, you never know, you might enjoy it," Naruto started and I could hear the grin still in his voice.

I scoffed and turned back to them, "Gym is the freaking lair of bullies. Where they can pretty much take any chance to chuck a ball at your head or trip you. And the locker rooms are always worse. Clothes go missing and -"

"What the hell kind of school did you go to?" Naruto interrupted, a frown on his face.

"Kiri Academy," I replied with a shrug.

"You mean the school with the killer taijutsu team?"

I nodded, "Yeah and I would have been on that team this year if I hadn't transferred."

The two friends stared at me, shock in their eyes.

"What?"

"You know taijutsu," Sakura stated slowly.

Once again I nodded.

"And you would have been on a team this year."

Another nod.

"Kiri's Taijutsu team."

I gave an exasperated sigh, "Yes, I was going to be put on Kiri Academy's taijutsu this year. You don't get trained by Zabuza Momochi and hide that new talent away."

I swear their eyes got even wider as their jaws dropped.

"You were trained by the Demon of the Mist?!" Naruto demanded, suddenly standing up.

_So, Zabuza's pretty well known even over here in Fire Country_, I mused to myself with a smirk.

"Both me and my best friend were trained by him. Actually, if everything goes as planned, they'll be coming to visit during winter break."

Silence.

_I think I broke them._

I reached over and jabbed Naruto in the stomach, grinning when a startled, pained groan came from him after.

"I'm going to assume that you two have heard of him?"

"Everyone who participates in the taijutsu tournament knows about him! But no one ever said about him training other people," Sakura was still watching me with wide eyes as she spoke.

"Yeah well, being his cousin's best friend has its perks."

"His cousin," the two said simultaneously.

I nodded _again_, "Yeah, me and Haku have been best friends since we were five."

"Haku? As in Haku Yuki?" Sakura's voice had taken a shrill sound that I'm pretty damn sure that even Sasuke could hear down the hall.

"The one and only."

And then chaos broke out.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hello all my lovelies :3**

**Sorry about the delay for this chapter guys. I actually had to go to my second graduation the day after I last updated. I sang _'I Hope You Dance'_ by Lee Ann Womack and, ironically, I got an award for being a nice music student.  
**

**So, looks like I lied about Gaara-kun being in this chapter but I found it pretty amusing to write Naruto and Sakura's reaction to Yuna knowing the two taijutsu stars. I really can't wait to actually bring them into the story or maybe even bring the story to them! Ohhh! Bonus chapters! Maybe at the end of this I'll write a few little one-shots for Yuna and her boys. Sooooo, NEXT chapter there should be more Gaara. And for all of you who like Sasuke, he'll be in it again as well.**

**Oh, also; I've barely glanced at grammar and spelling. So, please don't mind any errors.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or any of it's characters.**

_**Shadow-Ninja-Captain69: **Her mom has a bit of a back story but we'll be finding out about that a bit later in the story. Hopefully it's not too cliche or over used. _

_**TheGirlWithNoIQ:** I'm going to take a quick stab in the dark here and say that you're probably going to start shipping Temari and Kai in the future, hm? If you are, don't worry, cause so am I! I'm really sorry that I couldn't get Gaara in this chapter but it was already over two thousand words long and going on seven pages. BUT I got some bonding time in with Naruto and Yuna, which I like. A lot. I think they should be best buddies forever. __  
_

**_Cameal Lawrence: _**_Thanks so much for reading my story AND reviewing! I'm so glad to know that more people are giving their opinions on my work. As for the fangirl moment, don't worry about it, you're not the only on ;)_


	8. Chapter 8

**Stone Walls**

_Chapter Eight_

As soon as the bell for second period went off I booked it for the door. There was only so much of Naruto and Sakura's questioning that I could take in one hour. I mean _honestly!_ They were asking me what Haku and Zabuza's favourite _foods_ were.

Only problem now was the fact that Sakura was in my next class. Maybe I could somehow maneuver Sasuke between her and me? It was worth a shot, right? Maybe Sasuke would take some pity on me.

I found my seat quickly enough, watching the other students slowly trickle into the room. With my head rested on my palm, I watched the other students while looking for any faces I could match names to. Out of the entire group I could really only name one other student; a brunette guy with narrow eyes. He had been in my biology class the day before. Shikamaru something.

A body dropping into the chair beside me, raven hair catching my eye.

Inwardly I cheered while turning to face the Uchiha boy. Sasuke simply sighed and folded his arms on the desk, laying his head down on them.

"Rough morning?"

"You have no idea," Sasuke's voice came back mumbled and barely understandable.

"How come you're switching spots with Sakura?"

He turned his head slightly, obsidian black eyes staring blankly at me.

"Oh, Sakura must have caught you already, huh?"

He turned his face back into his arms. Guess that's a yes. I let out a little sigh of relief and mentally thanked Sasuke for being my current knight in shining armor.

I relaxed, closing my eyes and just listening to the chatter going around the room. It was definitely odd compared to Kiri. Life here always seemed so full of happiness and joy whereas back home everything was quiet and secretive. There were _real_ bonds here instead of partnerships. Even between Haku and I there was a steady give and take. He and I were each other's support against the cruelness of the others. We kept each other company. But the two of us also had a friendship which wasn't something common in our school.

I heard Sakura come in, greet Sasuke and I before sitting down on the other side of the Uchiha. Once again I silently thanked the boy between us for his hidden kind side.

Thankfully Sakura kept her questions to herself and continued her pattern of flirting through class. Creative writing went on the same way. I forced Sai between Naruto and me and went to work once the class started. Jiraya was just as weird and perverted as yesterday.

Lunch, thank God, was more normal.

I sat down in the same spot as yesterday, greeting the group with a smile.

"H-How were y-your morning classes, Y-Yuna?" Hinata asked me from her place just a little farther from me.

I turned my smile to the raven haired girl and, keeping in mind not to mention Zabuza or Haku, told the other girl about my day.

"Well, we had a free period today in homeroom so that was nice. History was dull and boring and Naruto kept making fun of Jiraya-sensei during creative writing. It's extremely hard to write while that bone head is trying to make me laugh."

"Who are you calling a bone head?!"

I turned, my expression turning into one of innocence, "What ever could you mean, Naru-kun?"

The blond boy gave me a long look before curling his nose. He sat down beside Hinata and me before dropping food into my lap.

"Don't call me that. Ever."

The others laughed, well most of them laughed, Sasuke smirked and I couldn't help but grin.

"Yeah, nicknames aren't really your thing, Yuna," Sakura agreed once they had all calmed down.

I gave a little shrug before opening the sandwich bag that Naruto gave me. It was a ham sandwich with cheese and slightly soggy lettuce.

"I should really just start bringing lunches to school," I stated while pulling the lettuce out from the sandwich.

"Yeah, our cafeteria isn't the best but at least it's food," Naruto agreed with a shrug of his own then his eyes lit up.

"Oh! I forgot to tell you guys, but Yuna actually lives across the street from me!"

The others gave me curious looked while I ducked my head. Alright, so even if I was comfortable with these people didn't mean that I liked being stared at.

"You'll have to join us more often outside of school then, Yuna," Sai said, giving me a smile.

I blinked, looking back up at the pale guy across from me. My eyes moved to the others who just nodded in agreement. When I turned to Sasuke he was just staring blankly.

"What?"

Sasuke heaved out a long sigh, "Our mothers are going to eat you alive."

My eyebrows dipped down in a frown and then Naruto groaned loudly.

"He's right; Mikoto and my mom will love having another girl to have around. And you're shy to so they're probably going to look absolutely insane to you," he explained at my curious stare.

"Hmm, that's true. Kushina still has problems with calming down around Hinata," Sakura added with a nod.

"You're mothers sound terrifying," was really the only thing I could say to all of that.

Sasuke nodded, "They are."

* * *

The shrill sound of the bell went off from inside the school, just loud enough for the people outside to hear it.

My little group slowly trudged back inside, Naruto moaning and complaining about having to go to gym today.

"Hey! Uzumaki! Ready to get your cut kicked today?" I head a gruff voice call out from behind us.

The others turned, Naruto with a grin on his face, "Yeah right! Like I'd lose to a weakling like you, Kiba!"

A low laugh escaped the brunette walking up to us. I recognized him from my English class, mostly because yesterday Kakashi had thrown a piece of chalk at the boy to wake him up. But also, it was hard to forget a guy with long, curved triangle markings on his cheeks.

"We'll just have to see who's weaker, hm? See you in class, Uzumaki."

"Who was that?" I asked as the brunette walked by us, hands in his pockets.

"Oh, that's Kiba Inuzuka. Him and Naruto kind of have this rivalry in gym class," Sakura answered as we continued to walk.

"W-What class d-do you have n-next, Yuna?" Hinata stuttered from behind me.

I turned my head back slightly to see her, "I gave English next with Kakashi-sensei."

"He n-nice," Hinata gave me a hesitant smile before turning to Naruto.

We all split up, going to out different classes which happened to be rather spread out through the school. When I stepped into my first afternoon class I couldn't help but smile at the red head sitting there already.

"Hello, Gaara."

The Subaku boy looked up from the book he was reading and nodded to me.

"Mind me sitting beside you, today?"

The boy's eyes widened slightly before he looked back down at his book hurriedly. I couldn't help but smile a little bigger.

So Gaara was a shy kid as well.

I sat down beside him and propped my bag on the desk leg. Yesterday I had been sitting beside some blond haired girl who just wouldn't stop talking. So sitting beside someone quiet would be an awesome change.

I looked over at Gaara from the corner of my eye and noted the row of piercings he had in his ear. They were all small studs in them, probably to go along with the dull uniform but I kind of wondered how I hadn't noticed yesterday.

The rest of the class came pouring in just before the bell rang. Of course though, just like yesterday, Kakashi wasn't there yet.

I took my cell phone out from my bag and smiled at the texts waiting for me; one from Naruto and another from Haku. The small group I sat with at lunch had all decided to put their numbers into my phone at lunch. I officially had more than four numbers in my phone.

**To: Yuna**

**From: Naru-kun**

_**Hey, me & Sasuke decided 2 go 2 my house after school. Wanna come?**_

**To: Yuu-chan**

**From: Hakuu-kun**

_**So, anymore eventful mornings? :)**_

I grinned at the obvious difference between the two boys and quietly replied to both. The night before, after the Subaku siblings left I had called Haku and Zabuza and told them about my hectic first day. My first encounter with Naruto made both guys laugh but it was kind of sad in a way to be telling them this stuff without actually seeing them.

I peeked over at Gaara only find him watching my phone curiously.

"What's up?"

The boy jumped, green eyes widening again. His eyes flashed up to me before dropping back to his book. I tilted my head slightly and gave him a smile.

"You type fast," he grumbled and I was kind of shocked by his voice.

It was a soft sound but definitely male. It was the kind of voice that sent shivers down your spine and could probably sound deadly if the need came up.

"So you do talk, hm?"

The boy ducked his head a little farther down and a small chuckle left my lips.

"Alright class! Sorry I was late but I got lost on the path of life."

A simultaneous sigh sounded through the students as I turned to look at the grey haired English teacher. He was just sitting at his desk, feet propped up and a book out in front of him.

"We're going to be studying _The Taming of the Shrew _this year so I want everyone to go get a book from the side and start reading."

"Fantastic," I grumbled before getting up.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hello all my lovelies :3**

**So, I'm really, really, really sorry about the lack up updates. I have no good excuses except for that my attention was on something else. I'm currently writing my own original story and it's a bit difficult since the entire plot is set in a completely different world. And I have way more characters than I know what to do with. I've had to draw out maps, work on characters, write the first chapter. But! I finished this entire chapter in one day for you guys :)**

**Also, I'll be gone again and I don't know if I'll be able to write anything or update. My family (my ENTIRE family - aunts, uncles, cousins) are going on a trip to Nova Scotia to see my extended family out there. So, i can't wait to hear from you guys again! And seriously? Where were all the reviews last time? I was sad D:**

**Oh, also; I've barely glanced at grammar and spelling. So, please don't mind any errors.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or any of it's characters.**

_**Shadow-Ninja-Captain69: **I know, but I just couldn't leave Haku and Zabuza out of the story! I miss those guys far to much. It sucks that the author of Naruto killed them off! I misssss them!  
_


	9. Chapter 9

**Stone Walls**

_Chapter Nine_

English and biology had passed without a hitch, leaving me feeling hopeful feeling. Though, as soon as the bell rang for sixth period it felt like my stomach dropped into my diaphragm.

I really, _really_ wasn't looking forward to gym. Not at all.

I entered the gym hesitantly, looking around at the other students who'd arrived before me. Most of them I recognized from the music class the day before but I hadn't seen everyone that day.

"Oh, Yuna, we have to change into out gym uniforms," one of the girls from the vocal class informed me.

My shoulders slumped as I unhappily followed the girl into one of the rooms off the side of the gym. Inside were the rest of the girls that hadn't changed just yet.

"Well, I'll leave you to it," and with that my temporary tour guide left back out the door.

I sighed and easily made my way over to a free locker. The other girls chatted happily with each other, thankfully ignoring my presence all together. I quickly changed, stuffing my normal uniform into the locker and tying my hair up.

The uniform was a bit… Revealing around the leg area. A long white t-shirt was the girl's tops while the bottoms were simply black short shorts. I pushed my feet into my running shoes and left the room, my eyes down at the floor.

It was one thing to wear something like this in an all-girls gym class but this wasn't. No, instead it was _all_ the music students from our class period. Apparently Naruto had his gym class just before mine with the other students from his class and Sakura would have the last period gym class with Hinata.

So, I was by myself.

I shook my head while scanning the slowly growing group of students, my eye catching sight of a mop of red hair. Gaara was standing off to the side, keeping out of everyone's way and keeping to himself.

I let out a small sigh of relief and went over to the boy.

I wasn't completely by myself.

Gaara looked over at me once I stepped up beside him. I looked over and gave him a slightly nervous smile, trying not to let the air shifting around my legs make me fidget. But of course, my fingers betrayed me. As soon as I felt the slight twitching in my index finger I linked my fingers together in front of me.

"Alright, class! Listen up!" A rather deep male voice shouted from the front of the crowd of students.

I looked up and my eyes instantly widened. Standing there proudly was a tall man dressed completely in green spandex and orange leg warmers. His hair was in a bowl cut and he had large, _large_ eyebrows.

But the oddest part? I recognized this man. He'd recently taken up the job of taijutsu teacher at Konoha High and he'd actually given the school a much better chance at winning. Haku always commented about how much better the taijutsu from here was getting since Gai Maito had come.

"Today we'll be playing some basketball! I want you to split into your teams. Oh, and Miss. Takenaka you'll be joining team blue. Also, I'd like you to stay for a moment after class," Gai continued before grinning and sending me a thumbs up.

I heard a loud squeal and winced, turning only to be practically dragged over to the other side of the gym.

"You're on our team, Yuna!" The same blond from English class was the one practically pulling my shoulder out of its socket.

"Ino! Let the poor girl go," some red head demanded, her hands propped up on her hips.

'Ino' dropped my arm and gave me a sheepish smile. I returned the smile with a meek one of my own before nodding my thanks to the red head.

"It's nice to finally meet the new girl. My name's Karin Uzumaki and it's nice to meet you," the girl introduced, holding her hand out.

The name instantly clicked in my head as one of the people Sasuke and Naruto had told me to avoid, but they never mentioned that she was related to Naruto!

She seemed to be waiting for me to shake her hand, rather impatiently at that. Her foot started tapping and the smile on her lips turned into something forced.

I cautiously placed my hand in hers and shook Karin's hand weakly. The smile on her face instantly brightened and thankfully Gai's whistle interrupted any more conversation.

Alright, gym with Gai Maito was hell in a big room. He continued to push and push and push until the class ended with a tie. I wasn't the best basketball player but I really tried to put my best foot forward in this and kind of felt a bit disappointed that my team didn't win.

After class finished and everyone had showered and changed back into regular uniforms I found myself back in the gym with Gai.

"So, the principal tells me that you were about to be accepted onto the Kiri taijutsu team before transferring here, correct?"

I gave a small nod.

Instantly the teacher broke out into a giant, _shining_ grin. I flinched back slightly, trying not to make it to obvious but his freaking teeth were going to blind me!

"Well then! You'll just have to join our team then! Konoha High doesn't have a very large Taijutsu team but what we lack in numbers we make up in… YOUTH!"

I scurried back when the man suddenly broke out into tears and started talking quickly about youth and teenagers and their fighting spirit.

Was everyone in this school nuts?

Maybe I'm actually in an insane asylum. It was the only way to explain some of the people I had met in the last two days.

"Um, sensei? I'd be happy to join but right now I need to go to my next class," I said quietly while moving slowly towards the gym doors.

"Oh! Of course! Be here on Friday afternoon after school. Oh! And make sure to bring your uniform!"

I nodded once before rushing out of the room as fast as I physically could.

* * *

"So, you're joining the team?" Naruto asked with a grin, slinging his arm around my shoulders.

Ignoring the boys' actions, I nodded and linked my fingers in front of me, "Yeah, apparently the principal saw it in my records and recommended that Gai-sensei add me to the team."

"Well that's awesome! Sasuke and me are both on the team and so is Sakura!"

I titled my head and looked over at the Uchiha, "Who's all on the taijutsu team here?"

Sasuke looked over at me, squished between me and Sakura who had been clinging to his arm, and slowly counted off the team members.

"Well, there's us three – four now – Gaara Subaku, Neji Hyūga, Tenten Mishi, and Kiba Inuzuka."

"Hmm," I hummed in response while Naruto steered me down the street.

Somehow all four of us had managed to fit onto the sidewalk as we headed back to Naruto's house.

"Oh! Naruto, you didn't say that Karin is related to you!"

"I didn't? Opps."

"Idiot," Sasuke shook his head and continued on, getting a few steps in front of Naruto and I.

"What was that?!"

"Idiot," the black haired teen drawled, dragging out his vowels in a monotone voice.

I held back the laugh, easily slipping out from underneath Naruto's arm while he went after Sasuke.

I watched from behind with Sakura as the two boys ran down the street, shouting obscenities at each other.

"Those two are definitely something," I said with a laugh.

Sakura nodded in agreement before letting out a sigh, "Trust me, after a while you'll get bored of it."

"I don't know about that. The only entertainment I had close to this was Zabuza scaring off anyone who hit on me."

"I'm not sure I want to know."

"Most of the guys ran away and quite quickly," I grinned at the thought.

"I never would have thought of the Demon of the Mist as a protective person."

"That's because of the field he doesn't let anything cloud his judgment. He keeps a clear head and focuses until everything is over. Haku's the same way but he relaxes a bit between fights."

"You've known them for a long time, haven't you?"

I couldn't help but smile again, "Yeah, they're my best friends and like older brothers to me."

Out of the corner of my eye I could see the pinkette nodding slowly.

The house was getting closer and closer but I didn't let that bother me. Mom wouldn't be home until evening since she was being tested out as a nurse at the hospital. I had texted Kai and told him that I'd be across the street so he'd tell Tomoko for me.

"So, how _is_ Karin related to Naruto?" I asked suddenly, breaking the comfortable silence we had had going on.

"Oh, well she's his cousin on his mom's side. But she's nothing like Naruto other than the fact that they both have short tempers."

"Yeah, I noticed that," I replied with a slight chuckle, thinking back to Karin nearly blowing up.

We made it to the house and Sakura walked me into the house, the sound of the boys fighting ringing through the home.

"Kushina! We're here!"

"Oh! Sakura! And this must be Yuna! Naruto told me about you yesterday."

I reeled back when a red haired woman ran out from the living room and enveloped me into a large, warm, back cracking hug. I yelped without really meaning to and tried to struggle out of the woman's embrace but, _damn_, she had a strong grip!

"Mom! Let Yuna go! She's turning blue!" I could barely make out the voice of Naruto past the mass that was apparently his mother.

But the blue wouldn't have surprised me right now. With the woman's freaking boa constrictor grip around me it was getting more and more difficult to breath.

Kushina finally released me and I suddenly felt extremely bad for all the mice that people fed their pet snakes. Now I knew exactly how they felt before dying.

The red haired woman was much taller than my five foot three and her hair draped around her, down to her hips. I felt a streak of envy but on the other hand I would never want to try and tame my hair while it was long. She had pretty blue-grey eyes that held all the warmth and caring that my own mothers' were lacking. Damn, this woman was the exact opposite of my mom!

"Sorry, hun, but you're adorable!" Kushina gushed while I took a cautious step back from the woman. "And you're so tiny!"

I grumbled softly under my breath about people and their damn height before Naruto suddenly grabbed my arm and started pulling me up the stairs in front of the main door.

"Sorry mom, but Yuna's here to hang out with us! Not you," he stuck his tongue out at Kushina before booking it.

"Naruto! Give your mother some damn respect!" I heard after us along with Sakura's laughter coming from behind me.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hello all my lovelies :3**

**HA! I have internet heerree~**

**Sorry, I am actually super happy that I can continue updating _Stone Walls_ while on vacation. But, I'm even more eager to keep building up the foursome's friendship and then moving on the building up the relationship between Yuna and Gaara. Oh! I came up with a name for them - Gaarna. Yeah, I've been bored XD**

**Oh, also; I've barely glanced at grammar and spelling. So, please don't mind any errors.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or any of it's characters.**

_**TheGirlWithNoIQ: **It's alright, hun! I did miss your review though D: Soooo? What did you think of chapter nine? A few new characters introduced and it happens to be a bit longer than my usual chapter :3_


	10. Chapter 10

**Stone Walls**

_Chapter Ten_

"Yuna, pass over the chips," Naruto muttered, eyes glued to the TV across from the bed.

I nodded absently while hanging a bag of chips down the line. I was sitting at the head of Naruto's bed, a pillow clutched to my chest and my shoulder pressed against Sasuke's arm. A scream sounded from the television and I simply blinked as blood spewed across the screen.

You're probably wondering what the hell we were doing, right? Does watching Saw after a long half hour of uncomfortable silence help? Yeah.

After Naruto had forced Sakura and I into his room, Sasuke waiting there with an impatient look, we kind of just stood around. I guess having a new person with them kind of threw off their usual routine. So, we literally sat in near silence. There were a few questions tossed into the quiet and they were eaten up pretty quickly, leaving us in awkward silence again.

So, Sasuke suggested watching Saw. And guess what? It worked! The awkwardness was filled up with screams and Sakura's whimpers. Apparently Naruto had no problems with gore movies, it was just ghost movies that you had to trick him into watching.

"Thanks," Naruto whispered once the bag reached him again.

I could hear the bag crinkling but instead focused on Sasuke's scoff.

"These people are so stupid," he grumbled, a bored expression on his face.

I nodded in agreement. From the other side of Sasuke came a quiet whimper and I rolled my eyes. Apparently Sakura didn't like _any_ kind of horror movie. She was currently hiding in Sasuke's arm while he completely ignored her.

Their relationship kind of intrigued me. Sakura was a very hands on person from what I could see in their relationship whereas Sasuke really didn't seem to care. Occasionally I'd see a fleeting warm look that the Uchiha boy would send the pinkette but other than that there hadn't been much boyfriend-ness coming from the raven haired boy.

"How can you three watch this with such straight faces?!" Sakura suddenly exclaimed.

I blinked and looked around Sasuke at the pinkette. She was curled up tightly against Sasuke's side, his arm resting lazily around her shoulders.

"Cause it's a movie and these things don't actually happen in real life," I answered back blandly, shifting back into my previous spot.

"Yeah, Sakura, when was the last time you hear about someone being kidnapped by some person in a pig mask?" Naruto added in.

"Never," the girl replied softly.

"Hn."

I frowned, looking over at Sasuke in confusion, "And what the heck is that supposed to mean."

"Don't even try. Sasuke is just socially awkward and doesn't know how to talk to people so he makes that sound," Naruto supplied.

"Sasuke is _not _socially awkward, Naruto!"

"Then how do _you_ explain that damn sound?"

"Um…"

"Exactly."

I chuckled, "Naruto, one, Sakura, zero."

"Hey!"

The door opened just as another woman screamed on the screen and Kushina jumped, eyes wide. She looked over at us to the screen then rolled her eyes.

"Kids, are you all staying for dinner?"

I got up off the bed, stretching my arms above me, feeling the small pops in my spine.

"Sorry, Kushina, but mom's expecting me home for dinner," Sakura replied with a pout.

"Oh, well that's alright. How about you two?"

I looked out the window to my house and shrugged, "I don't have any reason to be back just yet."

"Everyone's out at home," Sasuke replied after falling back into my abandoned spot.

The red haired woman turned to Sakura with a grin, "Alright then, I'll get Minato to give you a ride home, Sakura. And you three can help me with dinner."

* * *

Dinner at the Namikaze household was… eventful if I had to pick one word for it.

I was sitting between Sasuke and Naruto, watching the couple across from me.

Minato and Kushina were unlike any parents I had ever met. Their relationship was so full of love and liveliness that there was no possible way that someone _couldn't _see it. Minato watched the red haired woman with a small smile, adoration in his eyes. Kushina's naturally warm eyes lit up around the blond haired man and her smile was even brighter.

Naruto's dad, Minato Namikaze, was like an older version of his son. The only differences I could pick out from their appearances were that Minato had grown his hair out a bit longer than Naruto's. But personality wise, Minato was much calmer than his son and wife – something I appreciated.

"So, Yuna, how do you like Konoha so far?" Minato asked from his seat as he spooned some vegetables onto his plate.

"Well, it's just like I remember it from when I was a kid. The only difference is that it's a bit more permanent now," I replied with a smile.

Kushina smiled softly, "Yes, I remember when you used to visit your grandmother as a child. We had just moved into this house."

My eyes widened slightly, a slight shiver of fear running through me. I searched Kushina's eyes for any sign of her using what she knew about me against me but only kindness and some sadness were there.

"Yes, it's been a long time since I've been back here," I replied quietly, looking down at my plate.

"You can come over whenever you'd like. I'm sure it'd be good to spend time with your new friends," Minato stated before continuing his dinner.

I could feel Naruto and Sasuke's eyes on me while I poked around at my dinner for a little while longer before actually eating it. I kept my eyes down until dinner finished and Kushina sent the three of us back upstairs.

"Actually, I should probably get back home before my mom gets home. I'm sure my brother could cover for me but it's easier if I'm just home before she gets back," I said when we came up to the main door and stairs.

"Yeah, right. Well then I guess we'll see you tomorrow, right Sasuke?"

"Hn."

I smiled at the two boys before pushing my feet into my shoes and slinging the strap of my bag over my head.

"Alright, see you two tomorrow."

* * *

I closed the door to my bedroom with a heavy sigh. The mention of my history in Konoha wasn't something I'd been expecting from a friendly dinner with my new friends family. Actually, the thought of someone remembering scared the living hell out of me.

Konoha had been somewhere that I could start over and be someone new. Yeah, so far that had completely back fired.

I dropped my bag onto my desk chair before flopping down onto my bed. Memories that I didn't want to think of kept pushing into my thoughts and I continued to push them back into their locked cage. There were just some things that just didn't need to be dug up.

I grabbed my phone from beside me and sighed, sending a quick text to Haku. Maybe telling him about my day would take my mind off things.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hello all my lovelies :3**

**What's this? Two chapters in one night? Yeah, I was eager to continue with their little hang out. But now I'm hungry and hot... Not a good combination. **

**So, what did you guys think? Good? Not good? Eager to find out what the hell I'm talking about with Yuna's 'history in Konoha'? Weeeeell, you'll just have to keep reading and reviewing to find out more~**

**Oh, also; I've barely glanced at grammar and spelling. So, please don't mind any errors.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or any of it's characters.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Stone Walls**

_Chapter Eleven_

So, turns out weekends are a Uchiha day whereas week days are Uzumaki-Haruno days. I was currently strolling down the street with Naruto, hands tucked into my sweater pockets. We were currently headed down to Sasuke's house to meet up with the other two of their little crew.

Naruto was chatting aimlessly about something or other while I was simply looking around, trying to memorize the path.

A sudden thought hit me.

"Hey Naruto, would you call me a friend?"

It was something that had been bothering me for the last half of the week. I dind't make friends very easily and yet being with this group of people felt so _natural_. I couldn't help but feel comfortable with the three of them and the addition of Sai and Hinata at school. I only ever felt like that with Haku and Zabuza.

The blond paused momentarily, his feet hesitating in their next step. He looked over at me before a sudden grin broke out on his face.

"Of course I do, Yuna! And so do the others! They all really like you!"

"Are you sure? I don't want to be a bother to anyone," I mumbled, continuing on just a little behind the tall boy.

Naruto shook his head, "Everyone loves you. And even though Sasuke won't admit it, he's probably glad that someone helps him tease me."

I let out a little chu"Jeez I'mckle and nodded, my shoulder slumping a little bit.

"You don't have many friends, do you?"

I looked up sharply at the other teen, squinting my eyes against the sunlight behind him.

"No, not really. Back home it was just me, Haku and Zabuza."

"Jeez, I'm never going to get used to you talking about them so casually," he mumbled before shaking his head, "But you can consider us as your friends, Yuna. Even my parents like you!"

"Somehow I can see those two liking almost anyone."

"Nope! My dad absolutely hates my aunt and her family and mom is constantly fighting with Mrs. Yamanaka."

"Ino's mom?"

"Yeah, she owns the local flower shop and they _always_ get into arguments over flowers. Like which ones are for what occasions. I used to hate going there with her."

I let out a small laugh and shook my head, "Your parents are pretty cool people. Sakura's too."

"Yeah and I think you'll like Sasuke's mom. She's like my mom in some ways, like she's really nice. But Mikoto is also a lot more calm than my mom."

"You sound like you know her pretty well."

"Well, yeah. My mom and Sasuke's have been friends since college. The two of use grew up together but didn't really start talking until grade seven, when we met Sakura. What about you and Haku?"

"Well, Haku's a few years older than us but we met when I started school. I was getting picked on for not wanting to play some stupid game and Haku came to my rescue. After that we kind of just stuck to each other like glue. He was there for a lot of hard times in my life and I was there for a lot of his."

"What about Zabuza? How'd you meet him?"

I grinned before answering, "Haku's mom invited me over for thanksgiving dinner one year and Zabuza and his parents were there. Since him and Haku were really close he started spending more time with us and eventually it was just normal for the three of us to be together."

We fell into an easy silence, just the sound of out feet hitting the pavement between us.

"Well, here we are! Uchiha manner," Naruto suddenly announced, breaking the silence.

I looked up and found myself staring at a _huge ass_ house.

"Holy crap!"

Naruto laughed, "Yeah, his dad is pretty rich and he likes to show off."

"Well I can see that!"

Inside was even more extravagant and yet it still looked like a lived in home. It was so strange, almost like walking into some kind of home remodeling magazine.

"Hey Sasuke, we're here!"

"In the living room," was the lazy reply Naruto got back.

After taking off our shoes the two of us found out way to the living room; a warm, homey place with the usual living room furniture. Sasuke and Sakura were sitting on a love seat across from a regular couch. On the couch were a woman with long black hair and an older boy with the darker, more inky black hair.

"Good afternoon, Naruto," the woman, who I was assuming was Mikoto, greeted with a soft smile.

"Hey there, Mikoto, Itachi," Naruto nodded to the two of them before looking over to the couple across from them, "What're we going to do today?"

Sasuke shrugged, "Video games?"

A grin brightened the blonds face, "Hell yeah!"

"Oh, mom, this is Yuna Takenaka. She's in my history class and these two's homeroom. Yuna, that's my mom and my older brother, Itachi."

"It's nice to meet you, Yuna," Mikoto's voice was gently and warm, kind of like a summer breeze.

I shifted nervously, giving a small smile to the raven haired woman.

"She's shy," Sasuke bluntly explained.

I sent the youngest Uchiha a scowl before turning back to his family, "It's nice to meet you."

Ha, take that Sasuke!

Itachi gave a small smile as well but his wasn't full of nervousness or anything, just a simple smile.

"Come oooon!" Three guesses as to who was whining. In my ear.

Sasuke sighed and got up from the couch, pulling Sakura up beside him. I smiled at the affectionate action, well, affectionate for Sasuke. He led us up a flight of stairs just off the living room and down a rather long hallway.

His bedroom was fairly simple – cocoa walls with your regular bedroom furniture. It was just a bit larger than your average bedroom and also had a shelf full of awards on the wall. Also, there was a couch and a few beany chairs.

I plopped down into a beanie chair, grinning as I slowly sunk farther into the comfy abyss.

"You any good at games, Yuna?" Naruto questioned as he dropped onto the bed across from the television, "Sakura sucks at them."

The pinkette gave him a scornful look, "I just don't like playing them."

"And you suck at them because of that."

"I don't suck at them!"

"Yeah you do! Remember playing Mario Kart for my birthday? Me and Sasuke beat you _every time_."

I rolled my eyes at the two and cleared my throat, "I'm decent."

"Good," Sasuke tossed a GameCube controller into my lap and I simply stared at it in wonder, "What, never seen a GameCube before?"

"I'm amazed that you have something so _old_."

"Shut up," he nudged his foot against the beanie I was practically inside before sitting down on his bed beside Naruto.

Sakura took the beanie across the room from me, more by Sasuke than Naruto. The boys started up the game and chaos ensued.

* * *

I walked back into the house and kicked my shoes off into the mat. There was laughter from upstairs and quiet humming from the kitchen. I went into the kitchen first, smiling at Tomoko.

"I'm home."

"Good, do you want to call the others down for dinner?" the older woman asked without turning, preoccupied with the food in front of her.

I nodded and headed back down the hall. I made my way up, passing Kai's room and into my own for a moment. I quickly plugged my phone into the charger ad swiped my hair up into a ponytail.

With that finished I went back down to Kai's room and knocked on the door. The dark haired teen opened the door with a wide grin. He pulled me inside and I found myself in front of the Subaku siblings.

Lately Kai and them hung out all the time. He was always with all of them or just one or two. It was pretty comforting to see that my brother had made friends just like I had. We had each found a place in Konoha.

"What's up, little sister?"

"Grandma told me to come get you guys for dinner," I replied while being forced into a friendly hug by Temari.

The three of them, even though they were Kai's friends, the three of them acted like I was just as much a part of their foursome as my brother. After being let go by Temari I was kind of passed off to Kankurō who squeezed me around the waist. I chuckled softly and patted the older teen's shoulder before he let me go.

"Alright, dinner," I said before pointing over to the door.

The older teens rushed to the door while I hung back to wait for the last Subaku child. Gaara got up slowly from his place on the floor and stretched.

In the last week me and him had started chatting during classes. Nothing to extreme, just normal talking about the weather, school, stuff like that. It was pretty nice to see him open up just a little for me. He even nodded a greeting when we passed each other in the halls!

I'm not happy or anything. Nooo.

Alright, maybe a little. But who could blame me? Gaara was both hot and cute mixed up in the same body.

"Hey Gaara," I greeted with a smile.

"Hey," he replied softly, giving me the faintest smile I had ever seen.

"Come on, before the others eat all the good food again."

We made our way into the dining room, sitting down in our usual spots beside each other. Mom wasn't home just yet and I was mentally doing a little dance at the comfortable air around the table.

"Thanks for the meal, Mrs. Oma!" Kankurō explained before digging into his plate, already stacked with food.

"Yeah, thanks grandma," Kai grinned before following his friends example.

Temari and I looked across the table at one another before rolling our eyes. I grabbed some food from the bowls and plates in the middle of the table.

"Hey, Yuna, I heard that you were put on the Taijutsu team, how'd the first meeting go?" I looked up at Kankurō, curious as to where he'd hear the news from. "Gaara told me," he supplied.

"You were put on the team?! Really?! That's fantastic!" Tomoko burst, a big grin stretched out across her face.

I chuckled and nodded my head, "Yeah, Gai-sensei asked me to join on Tuesday but it was made official on Thursday. But I didn't go to the meeting yesterday cause Gai-sensei told me not to go. He was going to tell the other members or something."

"Are you any good?" Temari asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Yuna here was the best in her grade during their little leagues," Kai answered instead while I ducked my head.

"Wow, really? It'll be good to have another member who can really fight. We used to have such a crappy team before Gai-sensei got his hands in it."

I listened happily, munching on some broccoli while the others talked away about taijutsu. From the corner of my eye I caught Tomoko smiling at me from her seat and Gaara following the conversation with his head, moving back and forth to look at who was talking.

Yeah, Konoha was definitely better than I had thought. Living here wouldn't be so bad at all.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hello all my lovelies :3**

**So, how about that? Three updates within two days! Maybe the ocean is inspiring some creativeness in me? I dunno but I'm on a freaking roll here! Alright, so I think I may have ignored Sakura a little at the beginning of this chapter when she came in, but eh, I don't know if I'm going to keep Sasuke and her together. Myeb pop in a few other OCs? **

**Alright, so I wanna tell you all about my vacation so far :3 Well, we rented this huge ass cabin right on the ocean side (we have to go down a crap ton of stairs though). Like, right now I can look up from my keyboard and see miles of ocean and then the silhouette of P.E.I. It rained yesterday so today's a bit cloudy but still nice and warm. (Ewww! A breeze just went by and all I can smell is horse crap!) My family has this sudden obsession with catching crabs and starfish and we watched the first Harry Potter movie last night before I started writing the previous chapter.**

**You probably don't care, but oh well~!**

**Oh! And go check out my page, I'm going to put a poll up there today!**

**Oh, also; I've barely glanced at grammar and spelling. So, please don't mind any errors.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or any of it's characters.**

_**TheGirlWithNoIQ: **Soooooo? What'cha think? I thought about finishing the chapter after she got home but I figured I give you all some Gaarna and tell a bit about the development with Yuna and the other Subaku's. Thooough, the next chapter will be a bit more of a plot mover to give out a bit more information on what's really going on with Yuna and Kai's mom. So, no Gaara or team seven D:  
_


	12. Chapter 12

**Stone Walls**

_Chapter Twelve_

I couldn't take it any longer!

A loud groan left my lips as I fell back into the grass behind me. The others were dropping down as well, making themselves comfortable while others stayed standing.

Students had been surrounding out little group since we met up for lunch ten minutes ago. Somehow my joining the taijutsu team had gotten out and, guess what? The team happens to be a very big thing here.

When I had left the creative writing room with Naruto and Sai the others had been waiting for us at the cafeteria doors, knowing that I wouldn't be able to go in with them. But, as soon as the students in the other room saw us there was a crowd pushing in on us.

I had hide behind Sasuke and Naruto, letting the two boys deal with the scary amount of fangirls and fanboys that the team had. I had actually been quite surprised at how quiet they had been during the previous week. Hell, I hadn't even noticed them! And now look! Sasuke and Narutp had almost needed a beating stick to keep the drooling teenagers at bay.

"Holy crap! How sis I _not_ notice them?" I breathed out, pressing a hand over my speeding heart.

"Perhaps you're just simple?" Sai suggested as he sat down across from my tired form.

Hey! Having panic attacks while in a barricade of people was not a walk in the park!

"Ouch, Sai. You hurt my feelings," I said, copying Sasuke's monotone voice.

"Nah, we ask them to keep their distance. Isn't it like this in Kiri?" Sakura asked. She dropped down diagonal from Sai, smoothing her skirt out over her thighs.

I shook my head, probably tangling leaves and grass in my brown hair. "Not at all! No one really care's _who's_ on the team, just that they win."

"T-That must have p-put a l-lot of pressure on y-your team," came Hinata's usual stuttering as she sat down.

I shrugged a little. "I really wouldn't know. Both Haku and Zabuza are immune to pressure or stress."

"Right, you never got on the team." I glared over at Sasuke before pouting slightly.

"That's mean, Sasuke."

The Uchiha boy turned his head a bit and smirked at me.

"You, sir, are an asshat."

"You tell him, Yuna!"

"And you're a moron."

"Sasuke, don't antagonize," I sighed out.

"I'm not a moron, you jerk!"

"Enough, the both of you!" Sakura hissed just as a familiar figure started up towards out little area.

"Hey Yuna," Kankurō gave a lazy wave.

I stared at the older teen with confusion and interest prickling at me. I mean, the two of us know each other well enough to talk and keep a conversation going but we _never_ spoke to each other at school.

"Hey Kankurō," I greeted slowly, frowning.

The brunette sent me an apologetic smile, stopping behind Sakura but with enough space between them to tell me that he wasn't comfortable with being around my group.

"Uh, Kai said to tell you that something's up at your place and to just come home with us today."

A strike of fear flashed through my chest, my gut clenching. Without really meaning to I flinched away from those words, knowing the meaning behind them almost instantly.

Kankurō gave me a nod before turning back to the school.

"What was that about?" Sai asked bluntly, staring off after the brunette teen.

It was obvious that Kankurō knew a little of what he was talking about, else he would have been as confused as my friends. They sat in the grass or stood, staring at me with confusion written on their faces.

I shook my head, eyes dropping into my lap. There was no way I could tell them.

Not yet.

* * *

After school finished I waited at the main entrance. Other students gave me strange looks, probably because I wasn't walking with Sasuke, Sakura or Naruto for the first time. I guess that would make it a little obvious that something was up.

So I linked my fingers together in front of me, my gold eyes downcast and tried to avoid the eyes of curious teenagers. I couldn't help but distract myself with thoughts of my poor grandmother. Hopefully she had gotten out of the house before mom had gotten too bad. If she hadn't left once mom had gotten home early, she surely would have by now.

Mom had a nasty habit of getting angry. And not just angry as in she'd yell and stomp around.

Oh no.

When mom got angry she turned into an emotional terrorist.

After her first attack on Kai and I my older brother got good sensing her mood swings. We got good at avoiding them by dodging the house for a day or two. And today would be the first since moving to Konoha.

A hand dropping onto my shoulder broke me from my thoughts. I turned to see Temari and Gaara standing there. I gace the two a weak smile before Temari pulled me into a tight hug.

"Kai told us what's up," she murmured into my ear.

I could feel her hand start combing through my hair and for some odd reason the action relaxed me. I returned the hug, catching Gaara's eyes over his sister's shoulder.

Neither Kai nor I felt very comfortable talking to others about the stuff that went on at home. It was sort of a sore spot for the two of us. But that just meant that if Kai trusted the Subaku's enough to tell them about our mom than I could trust them.

Gaara gave me a faint smile – the same one that made me want to smile back. But not this time. Smiling now would feel fake and I never wanted to fake an emotion around the red head currently staring into my eyes. So, instead of smiling I pulled back from Temari and moved around her.

I wrapped my fingers around Gaara's wrist and gave it a gentle squeeze to show that I was alright.

"Kankurō and Kai should be here soon," he spoke in the same soft voice that brought a pleasant warmth to my stomach.

As soon as the words left Gaara's mouth two arms wrapped around me. I let go off Gaara out of surprise before inhaling a familiar homely scent. I left out a relieved sigh and leaned back against Kai's chest.

"Hey there, Yuu."

"Hey K," I whispered back just loud enough for him to hear me.

"Come on guys, looks like there's a storm coming," Kankurō said, coming up beside the group and effectively distracting us.

I looked out the doors and cringed. Dark storm clouds were slowly creeping over Konoha and the trees on the grounds were leaning in the direction of the strong winds.

"First signs of fall here," Temari sighed with an extremely disappointed expression.

"I'm assuming Suna's much different?" Kai asked, releasing me and taking a step closer to the blond.

She nodded, "In Sun it's summer twenty-four seven. There's a few big storms but not as many as Konoha gets during the fall."

The three older teens started towards the doors, deeply engaged in their discussion of the weather. Gaara took the opportunity to step up beside me, like my brother had just done earlier with Temari.

"When we get there would you like to do some homework together?" the quiet red head asked.

I smiled, one of the stronger ones that were more reserved for my family and friends. "I'd love to."

Another faint smile tipped Gaara's lips up in the corners. Inwardly I jumped for joy, pushing the problem at hand to the back of my head. Why would I let my mother ruin such a perfect moment?

* * *

Music surrounded me along with the steady rhythm of pencils scratching against paper. I hummed softly with the music softly pulsing from the radio on Gaara's dresser, some oldies rock song that I vaguely recognized enough to sing to.

Gaara and I had been in our current positions for the last hour now. He was seated with his back to me in a chair that had been tucked under his desk before we had gotten to his room. I was laid out on his bed, text books and paper creating a mess around my head.

I glanced over only to smile a little.

Being like this with Gaara kind of reminded me of my time with Haku. You know, except for the major face that I didn't ogle at Haku's back. Gaara sat hunched over his work and yet my eyes would constantly travel over to him.

He had changed out of the white dress shirt that was part of the guys' uniform and was now dressed in a black band shirt. And you know what? I was pretty freaking happy about it. I could just barely see the outlines of Gaara's shoulder blades shifting when he moved his arm into a different position. And better yet, the little bit of exposed skin at the base of his back where the shirt had rod up a bit to show off the milky skin of Gaara's back.

_Alright Yuna, enough drooling. Time to get down to work._

I shook my head and focused my eyes back on the work in front of me.

It was a bit frustrating that a mall bit of skin was distracting me from my work. I'd never needed to _force_ myself to focus before. Not with Haku. Now with Naruto. And not with Sasuke. And yet here I was; biting my lip in an effort not to glance back at the red haired teen.

"Yuna."

I jumped slightly, turning my head to face Gaara.

"Would you mind – Would you mind telling me what Kai meant when he said that your mom had some issues?"

I stared.

I couldn't help it! That had been the most I'd ever heard Gaara speak. And not only that but he was asking about my mom – something I wasn't particularly fond of doing.

I had thought that all that was behind me for the day. But apparently not. Though, I wasn't mad at Gaara for asking, it was a perfectly reasonable question since he _was_ the one storing Kai and me away from our only parent.

"It's alright it you don't want to," he quickly amended, seeing me still staring at him.

"N-No, it's alright." Mentally I cursed at myself for the stammer in my sentence. There was no way in hell I'd go back to the shy stuttering girl I used to be just because of Kazuko Takenaka.

I took a deep breath and sat up on the bed while Gaara turned fully in his chair to face me, giving his undivided attention. I gave him a weary smile before starting.

"When my dad left our mom she started… losing control." I paused, my fingers twitching nervously in my lap. "First it was just every once in a while. She'd come home from the hospital and she'd start shouting and breaking things. If Kai or me got to close she'd start hitting us. It didn't matter if we were her children or not. We were a reminder of what my mother had been through."

My voice dropped into a murmur and I couldn't help but drop my eyes into my lap. "During those days I would stay with my best friend and his family for a bit while Kai stayed with his friends. But she started getting angry more often. She stopped hitting us but instead she'd use her words to hurt us."

Gaara stared at me, his eyes not reviling anything. The nervous twitching was back and I just watching my fingers, praying that he would say something. _Anything._

"So that explains why you were so shy around us," he finally said.

I glanced up at him only to find that his emotionless mask had turned into an expression of concern. I shrugged a little, feeling the awkward feeling settling in now.

I had never explained my situation with anyone before now. Haku had seen it all first hand and explained it to his parents and Zabuza. But Gaara didn't seem to mind my uncomfortable shifting and nervous fidgeting.

"And I was worried you just didn't like us," Gaara continued with a soft chuckle.

I frowned, now giving the red head my full attention. "Why wouldn't I like you, Gaara?"

Now _he_ was shifting nervously. I couldn't help but smile a little at Gaara. He looked like a kid who'd been caught doing something he shouldn't have been.

"You – ah – You wouldn't look at any of us for the first while unless Kai was there and you seemed to avoid us at school."

My smile dropped into a frown again.

During the first week of school I _had_ avoided most people. The only reason I stuck around Naruto's group was because him and Sai would physically drag me back to their spot with them. Now, of course I went by myself and actually enjoyed my time with the strange students.

"Gaara, trust me, all that was just me. I wasn't comfortable with everything and at school I kind of troed to blend in with the crowd. It's not because I didn't like you."

And just like that he looked relieved. I nodded my head and laid back down. "Alright, now that we have _that_ out of the way, let's finish this."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Hello all my lovelies :3**

**Alright, so this chapter took a bit because I originally wrote it out on my laptop and didn't like it. Also, because my mom was pissed off that I was writing more than I was 'enjoying' my trip. So I had to take a break from the laptop for a bit. So, I wrote it in a notebook instead. Three and a half pages. And now after typing it up with a few added bits I am proud to say that it ended up being 2,439 words.**

**Okay, so, what do you guys thing? An overplayed story? Good? Bad? Needs some work? Let me knooooow!**

**Oh, also; I've barely glanced at grammar and spelling. So, please don't mind any errors.**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto or any of it's characters.**

**_GirlWithNoIQ:_**_ Yeees, I know! I was getting far to carried away with reading comments so I just made chapters faster. Hmm, so, I've got a little idea about playing the gay character card with Sai. But the character who he might end up with is a secret because it's a massive crack pairing. As for Sakura and Sasuke... I don't know what I'm going to do! But I don't really like writing them together. Maybe I'll put Sasuke with Karin once she's in the story more? Maybe? And I knoow! I love those two and their relationship! I have so much fun writing the parts with Sasuke, Naruto and Yuna together. Writing their arguments is so easy XD_

**_Shadow-Ninja-Captain69:_**_ Hehee, I wrote that little bit about Gaara's shirt just for you ShadowNinja :3_


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